Stone Cold
by KJaneway115
Summary: While some members of Voyager's crew are stranded on an icy planet, others have to fight to regain control of their ship.
1. Chapter 1

STONE COLD

The moon was a vast expanse of white nothingness. Snow stretched in every direction, and although it already covered the ground, it continued to fall, accumulating inches by the hour. In the distance, snow-capped peaks towered above the white plains. They rose into the sky until they disappeared completely into grey clouds that seemed to hover constantly above the surface, just obscuring the mountain peaks. An occasional tree broke the monotony of the white landscape, its green top peeking out of the snow as if in greeting to any passing life form. There were a few dilapidated structures in the distance, but there was no sign of life. Towards the mountain range, rocks and hills began to roll across the landscape, but there was no sign of life there either.

Neelix looked around himself, trying to understand the events that had led him to be standing on this barren plain in the snow. He now had a choice; he could approach the hills, hoping to find shelter in a cave, or he could set out towards what appeared to be some sort of alien-built structures. He doubted that he would find companionship in either place, but he decided that a cave was more likely to provide warmth than an old lean-to, so he set out in the direction of the hills.

He had no coat, and no boots, and his fingers and toes had begun to grow numb. As he trudged through the snow, he felt it becoming caked onto the legs of his pants, and as it fell, it accumulated on his shoulders. His first order of business was to find somewhere dry to make a fire. He had already tried his communicator. Either the other members of _Voyager_'s crew had been deposited on some other planet, or their communicators didn't work in this atmosphere. Either way, Neelix had to adjust to the fact that he was on his own. _Oh well_, he thought. _It's certainly not the first time._

This day had started out like any other day on _Voyager_. He had cooked and served breakfast, greeting the crew members as they came into the mess hall. He had taken his weekly inventory of their food supplies and submitted his report to Commander Chakotay. Then, Captain Janeway had summoned him to the bridge for first contact with a species called the Duar.

The Duar had seemed friendly, at first. They had invited the Captain and Commander Chakotay to share a meal with them aboard their vessel. Neelix, in his official capacity as ambassador, had joined them. They had been having some trouble with their engines, and Lieutenant Torres and Ensign Paris had beamed aboard to assist them. Meanwhile, several Daur crew members had beamed to _Voyager_ for a tour given to them by Ensign Kim.

But, unbeknownst to the _Voyager_ crew aboard the Duar vessel, more Duar had beamed to _Voyager_ than expected. And by the time he, the Captain and the Commander had finished their meal, they were prisoners aboard the Duar ship. The Duar captain had thanked Captain Janeway profusely for having given them such a wonderful gift: the starship _Voyager_. The last time Neelix had seen Captain Janeway, she was being manhandled by two Duar crewmen; she, Chakotay and Neelix had each been dragged off to a separate cell aboard the Duar vessel. He had no idea what had happened to B'Elanna and Tom, or the crew which still remained aboard _Voyager_. After spending an hour or two in the Duar cell, Neelix had been dragged to a transporter room and deposited here, in the middle of the snow, with no supplies, no coat, and no idea where in the universe he was.

As he approached the hills, the area was covered with more and more rocks. The snow wasn't coming down as heavily now, and he brushed off his clothes and his hair. This looked like a good area to find shelter. Neelix found a cave that was dry, and he gathered some brush and branches from outside. Most of them were quite damp, and he knew he would have to wait for them to dry before he could build a fire. He set them in the cave and began attempting to warm himself.

...

"B'Elanna!" Tom called. "B'Elanna!" She had to be here somewhere. Unless the Duar had transported them to two separate worlds... but that seemed like a lot of trouble for them to go to. Why would they bother separating them if they were going to be left on such a remote and desolate planet? It wasn't like they would be able to band together and get off the planet without technology. He had tried using his communicator, but it seemed to be useless.

Tom was getting cold. The snow was falling fast, and its cold wetness was soaking through his uniform. He knew that he had to find some shelter, but his first priority was to find B'Elanna. _She could be anywhere_, he told himself. _She could be miles away._ It could take him days to find her, or he might not be able to find her at all. That thought created a cold pit in the bottom of his stomach. _No_, he thought. _I will find her. She's here somewhere._

He had been transported to the base of an expansive mountain range. It seemed like it wouldn't be too hard to find a cave that would serve as shelter. He hadn't seen another intelligent being since he had arrived on the planet - he guessed about an hour ago. He had seen a few small rodents scurrying around, and perhaps some insects, but that was all. Hopefully, the rodents could be caught and cooked. Without their communicators, and with _Voyager_ in the hands of the Duar, Tom knew they might be stuck here for a very long time.

Since he had arrived on the planet, he had been wandering around, looking for any trace of B'Elanna. So far, he had found nothing. What would she do? he had asked himself. _She would look for shelter in a cave the same way that I would._ So he had begun looking for areas that contained caves. So far, he had walked through two such areas, and had seen no sign of Torres. But the mountain range was long, and there were more caves ahead of him. He ignored the cold that bit at his fingers and his face. Soon, he would have to retreat into a cave, to avoid damage to his skin... but not yet.

He reached another cavernous area. "B'Elanna!" he called. "B'Elanna!" The snowfall was slowing slightly, as he peered into a long, dark cavern. "B'Elanna!" His voice echoed back to him, but there was no response. Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him, and he whirled around, ready to face an attacker. But instead of a hostile alien, he found himself looking at a familiar face. "B'Elanna!" he exclaimed.

"Tom, are you all right?" He barely recognized her. Her hair was covered in snow, and he took two swift steps forward and gathered her in a quick hug.

"I'm fine," he said, kissing her quickly on the nose. Then he observed, "You're freezing."

She looked up at his face; his lips were turning blue. "So are you," she retorted. "Come on, I found a cave. There was some dry brush inside and I've been trying to build a fire." She took his hand and led him to the shelter she had discovered.

"Do you have any idea what happened to the rest of the away team?" he asked.

"No. I haven't seen any evidence of anyone else here." She grew angry. "Those damn Duar!"

"Tuvok will find a way to regain control of the ship," Tom said with more confidence than he felt.

"Yeah, if the Duar haven't dropped him off on some ice planet, too."

They reached the cave and Torres led him inside. It wasn't exactly warm, but at least it provided some shelter from the elements. They set to work at starting a fire, and a few moments later, they were huddled around a small blaze. Tom reached over and tenderly brushed the snow out of B'Elanna's hair. As his hand became tangled in her hair, he pulled her face towards his, allowing their lips to meet in a deep kiss. "I'm glad you're okay," he said softly.

"Same." She turned away from him and back to the fire. "Now the question is, what do we do from here?"

...

Chakotay looked at the snow-covered expanse that seemed to stretch in all directions. In the distance, he could see a mountain range, but he could see no sign of civilization either there or in any other direction. The Duar appeared to have dropped him off on an uninhabited planet. Not too far from him, he could see some sort of structure. He set out in its direction to investigate.

He had seen no signs of any other member of the away team. He did not even know if they had been transported to the same planet. The snow was coming down hard, and he knew he had to find shelter. Perhaps, if the snowfall lessened, he would go out in search of other members of _Voyager_'s crew the next day. But night was beginning to fall, and he knew he had to get inside, away from the elements. Besides, this was unfamiliar territory, and he had no idea what kinds of predators might come out at night. The planet didn't seem like it was home to much life at all, but you never knew. As he trudged through the snow, Chakotay shivered. He hoped that the shelter he saw before him would be adequate, and that if it was inhabited, that the inhabitants would be welcoming.

When Chakotay reached the structure, he examined it carefully. There didn't seem to be anyone inside, but he approached cautiously. "Hello," he called. "Is anyone here? I don't want to harm you; I'm just looking for shelter from the snow." There was no response. Hesitantly, he approached the door of the shelter. It appeared to be a living space of some kind - a small cabin, but he heard no signs of life within. He knocked on the wooden door, but there was no response. He reached down to test the handle; it was not locked. The door creaked as he opened it.

Chakotay stepped inside the shelter. It looked like it had been inhabited at one time, but no one had been here for several months; perhaps even a year or two. It contained a single, sparsely furnished room. There was a fireplace on one side, and Chakotay was relieved to see that there was some wood left leaning up against it. Someone had rigged a metal hook that could swing over the fire. A black pot hung on it. The pot was slightly rusted, but looked as though it could be cleaned and used for cooking. A single wooden chair sat near the fire.

In one corner sat a simple bed frame; it appeared to be made of a flat slab of wood, supported by four small posts. Chakotay walked over and tested it with his hand. The makeshift mattress was comprised of a straw-like brush. It certainly wouldn't be comfortable, but he was grateful to have a bed at all. At the foot of the bed sat a wooden trunk. Chakotay opened it cautiously, its hinges creaking as he did so; it was filled with blankets. They smelled of mold, and he picked them up and shook them out, one by one, laying them over the back of the chair. Perhaps if they had a little air, they wouldn't smell quite as bad.

The wall near the door supported four small shelves. Chakotay examined their contents; dried foods and other rations. He regarded each package carefully, discarding those that seemed to be rancid into a bin that sat near the door. He found several packages that appeared to be some sort of soup mix, and he wondered if they would still be edible. There was also bottled liquid and some sort of powdered drink mix. He opened a bottle of the liquid and tried a sip. It appeared to be drinkable, and didn't have much of a taste, but he didn't want to risk drinking too much and making himself sick. He re-capped the bottle and returned it to the shelf. The first order of business was to build a fire. Then, he would try to clean out the pot and see if he could boil some water from the snow. As he set about his tasks, he wondered who this cabin had belonged to and why they had left it, abandoned.

...

"Ensign Kim, your pacing will not help us find a solution to our problem. You are exerting valuable energy which you would be better off conserving."

Harry Kim stopped pacing. Tuvok's logic was undeniable, but didn't the Vulcan understand that he had to do _something_? And as long as they were stuck in the brig, there was nothing he could do _but_ pace. He sighed and sat down on the bench across from Tuvok, defeated. "All right," he said. "What should we do?"

"At this time, Ensign, we should do nothing," the Vulcan replied.

"But we can't just sit here while the Duar take over the ship."

Tuvok lowered his voice, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the Duar guards who manned the door to the brig. "I do not intend to allow the Duar to maintain control of _Voyager_, but at the moment, we have no tactical advantage."

Harry looked like he was about to protest again, and Seven of Nine cut in, "Lieutenant Tuvok is correct. At the moment we have no tactical advantage."

"Well, then, we have to come up with one," Harry whispered.

"Agreed," Seven responded.

Harry began to think out loud, keeping his voice low. "As far as we know, all of our crew has been confined to quarters, but none have been killed. We're stuck here, in the brig. If they wanted to kill us, they probably would have done it already, which means they have other plans."

"Perhaps," said Tuvok. "Perhaps they require our assistance to operate _Voyager_, and after they have learned what they need from us, they do intend to kill us."

"But what do they want with _Voyager_?" Kim asked.

"_Voyager_ is tactically superior to the Duar's own vessels," Seven replied. "Perhaps they are attempting to acquire superior technology. Knowing our tactical superiority, the Duar could never defeat us in battle. The only way they could acquire our technology was through deception."

"An art at which they seem well-practiced," Tuvok added.

"Indeed," said Seven.

"Can we make use of our technology in a way that the Duar wouldn't anticipate?" Harry asked.

"An interesting idea, Ensign Kim," said Tuvok quietly. "What systems on _Voyager_ would the Duar be unaccustomed to, or tend to ignore?"

"Until we know their true agenda, we may not be able to determine that," Seven answered.

Kim had stood and begun pacing again. It was impossible to keep still in his nervous excitement. Then, he stopped dead in his tracks. Glancing nervously at the Duar guards, he moved closer to Seven and Tuvok, luring them into the corner of the cell. "What about the Doctor?" he asked.

"It is unlikely that the Duar will allow us to speak with him," Tuvok replied.

Seven of Nine got a dangerous gleam in her eye; clearly something had sparked her imagination. "What is it, Seven?" Harry asked, seeing the expression on her face.

"Perhaps it is time that we create a little deception of our own," she said.

...

Warro Greeda, First Captain of the Duar Office of Colonization and Relocation caressed the armrest of his new chair. He looked at the stars streaking past on _Voyager_'s view screen and felt very 'at home.' "How far are we from Duar Prime, Officer Boda?" he asked his helmsman.

"We should reach home in approximately two days, Captain."

"Excellent," Greeda replied. "By then, everything should be prepared." He turned around to another Duar officer, who stood behind him, at the tactical station. "Have all the members of _Voyager_'s crew been confined to their quarters?"

"Yes, sir. All except for the bridge officers and the former Borg. We placed them in the brig."

"Excellent work, Officer. What of the holographic doctor?"

"We have confiscated his mobile device. He is unable to leave sickbay. I've consulted _Voyager_'s database, and I'm certain that if any of our crew is injured, he will have to treat us."

Greeda nodded. "This is all going according to my plan. In no time at all, the Office of Colonization and Relocation will have complete control of Duar Prime." Greeda sat back in his chair, caressing the armrests once again, and laughed quietly to himself.


	2. Chapter 2

Chakotay awoke in the morning shivering. His fire had gone out sometime during the night, and the cabin was drafty. One of the windows was cracked, and it let in a cold breeze. He had to fix that. Slowly, he stood, feeling his muscles stiffen as he did so. He stretched his legs and the muscles in his back, certain that the lumpy, makeshift mattress wasn't good for either one. He rubbed his hands together, trying to create warmth, and looked outside. The snow had stopped falling, at least. That was a good thing. He had managed to boil some of the snow into water the night before and had tried the dried soup mix. It seemed edible, and it hadn't made him sick, but there were only a few packages left, and he knew he would have to conserve.

Since it had stopped snowing, he determined that he would examine his surroundings, and hopefully find some more firewood. He had found a coat and some warm boots in the shelter. They were a little big on him, and made walking slightly awkward, but they would shield him from the cold better than the flimsy material of his Starfleet uniform. He had found a knife in the shelter, which he put in his pocket and took with him.

As Chakotay stepped outside, he felt a cold breeze across his face. He looked up; the sky was covered in a blanket of grey clouds. Was it going to snow again? He walked around the shelter, examining it. It looked like it would stand, at least for a little while, and if he needed to, he could probably reinforce the walls and the roof. Leaning up against the building were a few tools: a shovel, a rusted axe, and several loose boards. He picked up the axe and swung it over his shoulder. Rusted or not, he might need it if he was going to collect firewood. He looked around. He could head toward the mountains, but there seemed to be even less vegetation in that direction. If he looked away from them, he could see a few trees in the distance.

He trudged through the snow, feeling the boots become heavier and more awkward with the weight of the snow accumulating on them. He had stop to clean them off a couple times. He continually looked back at the shelter, making sure he didn't loose sight of it or loose track of where he was. Finally, he reached the first of the trees he had seen. It was hard to tell all the way from the shelter, but the small gathering of trees seemed to be just the edge of a larger forest. Chakotay went to work gathering some brush. After he had made a pile of it he stopped, hands on his hips, examining the situation. It was a long walk back to the cabin, and he didn't want to exhaust himself carrying the wood all that way. Perhaps he could rig together some sort of makeshift sled with the loose board behind the house, and use that to transport the firewood. He looked around. There didn't seem to be anyone here. If he cut down a tree and chopped it up into logs, he could return later to collect them.

Swinging the axe, Chakotay set to work on felling one of the smaller trees. The axe was old and not very sharp, and it was hard work. The tree fell softly onto the bed of snow on the forest floor, and he began to chop it up into smaller pieces, piling them neatly near the brush he had collected. He felt the exhilarating pleasure of action, and the rush made his blood pump harder. He hadn't realized how frustrated he'd been or how helpless he'd felt until anger was pouring out in every swing of the axe. When the tree had been chopped into smaller pieces and he had piled them neatly, he stood, panting and sweating, examining his work. He decided that before he went all the way back to the shelter, he would investigate the forest a bit more. Maybe he could find something edible.

The forest looked like it became more dense if he continued to penetrate it. The trees became less scrawny, and there was less snow on the ground, because the thick cover of trees prevented it from falling to the ground. The trees also blocked the wind, so the forest felt much warmer than the exposed plain. Suddenly, Chakotay froze. He thought that he heard a moan, and he stood very still. He heard the sound again; it sounded like someone was in pain. He looked around, trying to figure out where the sound had originated. "Hello," he called. "Is someone there?"

He heard a rustle in the trees and another groan. This time, he could tell the direction they came from, and he began to walk towards the sound. "I want to help you," he said soothingly, in case the sound was coming from a less than friendly life form. "I don't intend any harm."

As Chakotay approached the sound, he saw a figure propped up against a tree; a figure he recognized. He broke into a run, and in a matter of seconds, he was kneeling at the side of Kathryn Janeway. "Captain!" he said, frantically checking for a pulse. "Kathryn!" She did not respond. Her eyes were closed and her lips had turned blue. Had she been outside all night? Her uniform was torn, and he could see blood on her arms, and a cut across her face, but she was alive. Without thinking, Chakotay took off his coat and wrapped it around her slender frame. He picked up her body and cradled it against him, and began to run back to the shelter. He did not feel the weight of her in his arms, and he was sweating despite the cold air around him. He had enough wood to build at least one more fire, and he would return for more later. Right now, he had to get Kathryn to the shelter, where she would be warm and dry and safe.

He burst in the door of the cabin and laid Kathryn on the bed, still wrapped in his coat. He hurriedly built a fire in the fireplace to warm the room. Janeway had still not spoken or moved. He unwrapped her from his coat and realized that her uniform was soaking wet. "Sorry, Kathryn," he muttered as he began to peel off her cold, wet clothes. He had fantasized about removing her clothing many times, but now he didn't even look at her body. He stripped her down to her underwear and laid her in the bed, piling all the blankets on top of her. All he could think about was getting her warm and making sure she would be all right. He caressed her cheek for a moment, noticing that the color was beginning to return to her skin. He laid her clothes on the back of the chair to dry by the fire, and filled his pot with snow to melt down for some soup.

As he waited for the water to boil, Chakotay sat on the side of the bed and took a closer look at his Captain. She definitely had a cut on her face, and he had noticed several scratches on her arms as well. It looked like she had been attacked by an animal, but if that was so, how had she defended herself? He fished one of her hands out from under the blanket. It was still as cold as ice. He held it between both of his and blew onto it, allowing his hot breath and the friction of his own hands to help warm it. When the water boiled, he prepared a package of soup mix. He poured a portion of the soup into a wooden bowl, letting the rest remain in the pot by the fire. Holding the bowl in one hand, he walked back over to the bed.

The color was definitely returning to Kathryn's cheeks and lips. He touched her face; it wasn't quite so icy. "Kathryn," he said softly. "Kathryn, can you hear me?" She moved slightly, but still didn't respond. He set the bowl down on the floor and moved around behind her, propping her up in a sitting position against his chest. He reached down for the bowl and began to spoon the soup up to her lips. Her lips parted, and he tipped the spoon, sending some of the soup dribbling down her chin. He wiped it with a blanket and then tried again, and the second time, she swallowed more.

Kathryn Janeway felt something warm against her back, and the sensation of an object being pressed against her lips. The object contained a warm, salty liquid, and it took her a moment to realize that she was being fed some kind of soup. Slowly, she opened her eyes, and realized that the warmth behind her was another person.

"Kathryn?" he asked, seeing her eyes open.

She tried to turn her head to look up at her first officer, but she felt too weak to move. "Chakotay, where am I?" she asked.

"Eat this," he ordered, spooning more soup into her mouth. She took another swallow. "What's the last thing you remember?" he asked.

Even in her weakened state, her tone became steely. "The Duar deceived us. They stole _Voyager_. And I remember being transported down to a planet. I was in the middle of the forest. I tried my communicator, but it wasn't working. I was trying to figure out how to modify it when I was attacked."

"Attacked by whom?"

Janeway, beginning to feel stronger, propped herself up on her own hands, pulling the blankets up to her chin so they covered her body. She had realized that Chakotay must have removed her clothes, and she felt self-conscious. Chakotay moved around the side of the bed to look at her as he continued to feed her from the bowl. "I don't know who attacked me," she admitted. "It was some kind of creature. I thought that for sure I was dead, but then it just ran off... I guess I blacked out."

"It ran off?" he asked.

She closed her eyes, trying to bring back the memory, but it was fuzzy after her night in the cold. "I think there was someone else in the forest. Maybe they scared it away, or shot it off me."

"If there was someone else and they bothered to shoot the creature off you, why didn't they take you as well?"

"I don't know." She was already beginning to feel stronger, after only a few bites of the soup. "Thank you, Chakotay," she said, taking the bowl and the spoon from his hands. "I think I can manage now." She took another bite before asking, "What about you?"

"Pretty much the same as you. The Duar transported me down to the planet's surface, and I found this abandoned cabin. I went out to get firewood; I didn't expect to find you there."

"Have you seen any sign of Tom, B'Elanna or Neelix?"

"None at all, but if our experiences are anything to go by, they might be on this planet, too."

Janeway nodded. "I think I might be able to modify our communicators to function in this atmosphere. If I know B'Elanna, she'll be trying to do the same thing." She began to move, as if to get out of bed. Chakotay's hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Hang on a minute. You need to rest."

"Chakotay, I need to get my ship back."

"No one will be better off if you kill yourself from exhaustion. You were attacked and you spent over twelve hours in sub-zero temperatures. I'm glad you're feeling better, but you need to get some rest."

She stopped, knowing the wisdom of his words. "All right," she said. "But at least, will you bring me my clothes?" She gave him a lopsided smile.

"They're not dry yet," he replied with a boyish grin. Janeway rolled her eyes. "I'm going to go back and collect some of the wood I chopped earlier so we can dry it out before we have to use it. Try to get some rest."

The Captain wanted to protest, but she felt her own eyelids becoming heavy. He was right, she did need to rest before she could be truly productive. But as soon as she took a nap, she was going to get up, get dressed, and figure out what to do next.

...

"Damn it!" B'Elanna exclaimed.

"No luck?" Tom asked. Torres was crouched over the fire, examining her comm badge closely.

"If I had a tricorder it would be a lot easier to figure out the right modifications to compensate for the subspace dampening."

"You'll get it," Tom said encouragingly. "Just keep trying."

B'Elanna nearly threw the comm badge at him, but she held her temper in check, took a deep breath and went back to her work. "Did you find any food?" she asked.

"There are some worms in the back of the cave," he replied dryly, "but I think I'm going to have to venture outside to find something more edible."

"At least it stopped snowing," B'Elanna said. Then her voice quieted and her tone became more serious. "What do you think happened to the Captain and Chakotay?" she asked.

"I don't know. Maybe we should go looking for them."

Torres shook her head. "We might never find our way back here."

Now it was Tom's turn to get frustrated. "We can't just stay in this cave and wait for someone to come rescue us. We don't even know where we are."

"Well if I can ever get these damn communicators working, maybe we can at least find out if we're alone here."

"I know you're doing the best you can," Paris soothed her. "I'm going to see if I can't find us some dinner." He picked up a couple of rocks from the cave.

"What're those for?" she asked.

"Pelting small rodents?" he replied with a roguish expression.

B'Elanna gave a disgusted snort and went back to her work. Suddenly, she felt Tom tense up, even from across the cave. "What is it?" she asked softly.

"I think someone's here," he whispered back, looking toward the cave's entrance.

Torres put the communicator down by the fire and stood, slowly moving closer to Tom's location, ready to pounce on anyone that might try to attack them. She, too, heard footsteps approaching. Tom's body was taught, ready for action. The rocks contained in his hands were ready to be used as weapons or projectiles at any moment. The footsteps came closer... and closer...

"Anybody home?" They heard a familiar voice, and glanced at each other with relief.

"Neelix!" Tom shouted. "We're in here."

Neelix walked into the cave, carrying a stick with several small, dead animals tied to it. "Anyone hungry?"

...

"Guard! Come quick!" Harry shouted, kneeling beside Seven's limp body, which lay sprawled across the floor of the brig.

A Duar guard approached and stood outside the cell. "What happened?" he asked.

"I don't know!" Harry exclaimed, sounding frantic. "She just collapsed."

"There may be a problem with one of her cortical nodes," Tuvok said. "She requires medical attention."

The guard hit the comm panel nearby. "Brig to Captain Greeda," he said.

A confident, smooth male voice replied, "What is it, Officer?"

"The Borg drone has collapsed. They say she needs a doctor."

"Examine her yourself, Officer. If she does appear to need treatment, summon an officer to relieve you and take her to sickbay." The voice paused. "Make sure you keep an eye on the other officers, though. I have a feeling they're going to be tricky."

At this accusation, Tuvok raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. The guard who had spoken over the comm deactivated the forcefield surrounding the bring while the other Duar kept his weapon trained on Harry and Tuvok. The guard knelt down beside Seven. She did appear to be genuinely unconscious. "All right," he said begrudgingly. "Transporter room, beam the Borg directly to sickbay." Seven dematerialized in front of them, and the guard called for someone to replace him before heading out the door for sickbay himself. The second Duar's weapon remained pointed at Harry and Tuvok.

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency," the Doctor said as he materialized in sickbay. He looked around and saw Seven of Nine lying on a biobed, unconscious. He had just taken out his medical tricorder when a Duar guard walked in.

"What happened to her?" the Doctor asked.

"I don't know. She just collapsed," the guard replied.

"Well if you didn't have me confined to sickbay, I would have been able to treat her more immediately," the Doctor said, annoyed.

"Captain Greeda thinks it's better for you to stay here."

"We'll see how he feels about that the next time_ he_ collapses and needs medical attention."

The Duar gritted his long, blue teeth. "Just treat her, Doctor," he replied. "I need to get back to work."

"Oh, don't let me keep you," the Doctor said in a pleasant tone. "I would never want to keep the great Duar from their lofty ambitions, whatever those are."

The guard narrowed his eyes at the Doctor, but decided it was best not to reply. He stood by the door, his weapon at the ready. He remembered what the Captain had said about these humans being tricky.

The Doctor ran his tricorder over Seven. There had been a disruption in her cortical node, but he could tell by the nature of it that it had not been an accident. Seven was here to communicate with him, he was sure of it. He just had to find a way to talk to her without the Duar overhearing their conversation. He hummed as he continued to scan the former drone's body, trying to make everything appear normal.

"Well?" the Duar asked impatiently.

"I'm a Doctor, not a racehorse," the hologram replied. "One of her cortical nodes has been damaged. I will need time to repair it, and I will need her to remain here, in sickbay, for several hours of observation after I have done so."

The guard grimaced. "How do I know you're telling the truth?" he asked.

"Would you like to risk _killing_ her?" the Doctor retorted, knowing full well that the guards had been ordered to keep _Voyager_'s crew alive. For what purpose, he did not yet know.

"Very well," the Duar answered. He stepped off to the side to inform the Captain of what had transpired.

The Doctor quickly pressed a hypospray to Seven's neck, and her eyes snapped open. "Don't move," the Doctor whispered, leaning down. "I'm going to keep you in sickbay for as long as I can. I need to get the guard out of earshot so we can talk."

"Understood," Seven replied. She heard the Duar approach and closed her eyes.

"The Captain has given you permission to keep her here for the next four hours, no longer."

"I'll do my best to accomodate him," the Doctor replied sarcastically. He began to gather the tools he would need to "repair" Seven's "damaged" cortical node and began to contemplate how he would be able to communicate with her with these Duar guards hovering over him all the time.

...

Senna examined the view screen closely. The new arrivals to their planet didn't seem to be hostile, but it was hard to be sure. She had been watching them with great interest since they had been deposited here. She had finally decided that it was time to summon Gadril to the observation portal. She heard the door behind her open and knew it must be him.

"You asked to see me," he said in his deep, sensuous voice.

She gestured to the screen in front of her. "We have visitors. They don't appear to intend any harm."

Gadril looked at her skeptically. "We've heard that before."

"I know," she said, "but there's only five of them. They don't seem to have any weapons. In fact, I don't think that two of them even know the other three are here."

"What are you suggesting, Senna?" Gadril asked, crossing his arms in front of his body.

"I think we should talk to them."

"You know we can't do that."

"Why not?" she asked, stepping closer to Gadril. Physically, he towered over her, but she refused to back down.

"You _know_ why not," he replied. He put his hand on her shoulder, his tone becoming softer. "I know what you did last night, how you helped one of them. I'm not going to tell anyone, but you shouldn't have done that. What if you had been caught?"

"I won't get caught," she said stubbornly.

Now his tone became firm. "You won't do that again, Senna."

She stepped away from him, crossing her arms in front of her chest and looking back at the view screen, watching one of the aliens drag a load of wood back to one of the abandoned cabins. "I'm going to keep watching them, Gadril," she said defiantly. "Maybe they aren't hostile. Maybe we don't need to be as paranoid as we think."


	3. Chapter 3

The bang of the cabin door startled Kathryn awake. She looked up and realized that the sound had been the entrance of her first officer, covered in snow from head to foot and carrying an armful of firewood. The too-large coat and boots made him look slightly ridiculous, and his hair had a thick layer of snow on it. Janeway couldn't help but smile at the picture.

"It's snowing again," he said with annoyance, not noticing her smile. He was leaning over, removing his boots at the door.

"I can see that," she replied in a tone that made him look up and notice the expression on her face.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

She quickly masked her smile. "Nothing." He looked at her, clearly not believing this statement, but he let it go. "How long was I sleeping?" she asked.

"I haven't quite figured out how to tell time here with the constant cloud cover," he replied, "but I'd guess a couple of hours. It's starting to get dark."

"So we've been here for a day," she observed, standing up, holding one of the blankets around her and walking over to her uniform on the back of the chair. It was dry, finally.

"If time on this planet is the same as on _Voyager_, I think so, yes." Chakotay turned his back to her and worked on tending the fire while she dressed.

"We have to assume that Tuvok is working on a way to regain control of the ship, but we can't assume he'll be successful. I think that our first priority should be to try and modify our communicators so they function in this planet's atmosphere."

"Agreed," he replied.

She walked over to the fire, and he glanced up to see that she was wearing her full uniform once again. "I wonder who this cabin belongs to," she said.

"Belonged, more likely. When I found it, it looked like it had been abandoned for some time."

"I wonder why."

"Maybe whoever was here figured out that they didn't want to live in a barren wasteland," Chakotay offered.

"Maybe. But I still could have sworn that someone scared that creature off of me last night."

"Maybe there is life on this planet somewhere. We just haven't found it yet." Chakotay examined their dwindling food supplies. "I'm afraid the options for dinner are soup... or soup..." He looked at her and they both laughed, somehow feeling lighthearted despite their dire predicament. He picked up a can from the shelf. "There's also some sort of drink mix," he said, looking at it.

"I think I'll stick with soup." They both laughed again. Kathryn took her communicator and opened it. "I nominate you as chef," she said. "I think I'll stick to the technology."

He gave her a wry glance. "You always did say you were a child of the twenty-fourth century."

She looked up at him with a smile and set to work on the communicator, trying different frequencies and different modifications for subspace distortions. Each time, there was no result.

Chakotay was busy preparing the soup and saw her frustration. "Maybe there's just no one in range," he suggested.

"Maybe. But why would the Duar leave us here, and take Tom, B'Elanna and Neelix somewhere else? I don't see how that could benefit them."

"Maybe they needed B'Elanna's engineering skills?"

"But not your skills or mine? I don't think so. I'd be willing to bet that they're on this same planet somewhere. You and I weren't beamed to the same location; it was purely luck that you found me. Maybe they're here, just somewhere else."

"Maybe." Chakotay sounded doubtful.

"Let's try this," Janeway said, after another modification to the communicator. "Janeway to Torres," she tried. "Janeway to Paris. Janeway to Neelix." For a moment there was only static, but then they thought they heard a voice; it was too garbled to make out. Janeway and Chakotay looked at each other hopefully. She opened the device again and made a further modification. "This is Captain Kathryn Janeway. Can anybody read me?"

"Captain! It's good to hear your voice," B'Elanna's familiar tone came back through the comm channel.

"B'Elanna! Where are you?"

"I'm with Tom and Neelix. We found shelter in a cave at the base of the mountain range."

"I'm with Chakotay. We're in an abandoned cabin. We're fine here for the moment. Are Tom and Neelix all right?"

"Yes, Captain. We're all fine," Torres replied.

"We'll have to rendezvous tomorrow," Chakotay put in, speaking loudly so he could be heard over Kathryn's communicator. "I don't think we'll have much luck finding each other in the dark."

"And the snow," Paris' voice joined in from the other comm.

"Tomorrow, when it's light out, we'll contact you," said the Captain. "We'll arrange a place to rendezvous, and we can determine a plan of action from there."

"Understood. Pleasant dreams, Captain. Torres out."

The fuzzy comm link cut out completely, but Janeway still felt relieved that she had been able to contact the other members of her away team.

Chakotay handed her a bowl. "Soup?"

"Thank you, Chakotay." As Janeway took the bowl and watched him dish up his own, she couldn't help but think of the last time they were stranded alone on a planet in close quarters. New Earth had been far more pleasant than this. Inside, she was still seething over the Duar deception.

"How are you feeling?" Chakotay asked. He sat on the floor near the fire, letting her have the chair.

"Physically, I feel fine."

"And emotionally?"

"I'm frustrated and angry, Chakotay. I keep replaying our encounter with the Duar in my mind, asking myself if there was some way we could have prevented this."

"There was no way we could have known what they were planning."

"Maybe not," she replied with a sigh, slowly eating her soup. "Tomorrow, we'll rendezvous with the others and see if they've gleaned any more information than we have."

"There is also the possibility that there's someone else on this planet," Chakotay added. "I think we should try to find them."

She studied him for a moment, catching something in his tone. "Did you see something today when you went back to the woods?"

He allowed himself a small smile; she knew him too well. "I didn't see anything. I wasn't even going to mention it to you, but the whole time I was out there, I could have sworn there was somebody watching me. I never saw them, but I kept feeling like there was someone there."

"What I wouldn't give for a tricorder about now," Janeway mused, the melancholy evident in her voice. Her gaze drifted off towards the fire, but her mind was a million miles away, on her ship, with the rest of her crew. She had to get back to them somehow. She had promised to get them home and she'd be damned if some puerile deception was going to stop her now.

"Hey," a soft voice and a warm hand on her knee brought her back to the present. Chakotay had moved closer and was sitting on the floor at her feet. He had reached up and brushed her knee, seeing her faraway expression.

"Sorry," she said.

Chakotay moved his hand up to hers and squeezed it. "We'll get back to them, Kathryn. I don't know how, but we'll do it." She looked into his eyes, seeking the reassurance and strength she so badly needed. She hoped that this time, Chakotay would be right.

...

Seven of Nine vaguely felt a hypospray being pressed to her neck as she slowly regained consciousness. The Doctor was trying not to attract the attention of the Duar guard as he whispered in her ear. "I've gained access to the locking mechanism on the crew quarters by modifying my activation subroutine. I'll need to take myself off-line, and when I do, you'll have a brief window of time in which to disable the locking mechanisms."

"I understand," Seven replied.

The Doctor held up a hypospray. "This hypospray will incapacitate our Duar 'friend.' Hopefully, you'll have enough time to decrypt the locking sequence before he has to check in with the bridge. He seems to do that about every five minutes He completed his last check-in right before I woke you." He glanced nervously over at the Duar soldier who still stood guard at the door.

"I understand, Doctor. We will succeed."

The Doctor gave her a small smile, knowing that with her running the operation, they most likely would. "I need you to pretend that you're in terrible pain. Cry out. Writhe on the table. It needs to be too difficult for me to handle alone." Seven nodded her understanding, and the Doctor said softly, "Good luck."

At that, Seven began to thrash about on the table, moaning as if she were in terrible pain. "No!" she screamed. "Help me!"

"Assist me," the Doctor ordered the Duar guard.

"What happened now?" he asked, exasperated.

"She's gone into neural shock," the EMH replied. "Help me hold her down!" Seven continued to writhe on the table, and the Doctor made a show of not being able to still her long enough to even press a hypospray to her neck. The Duar guard approached and held down Seven's shoulders as she fought against him. The Doctor, hypospray in hand, pressed it neatly to the back of the guard's neck. He collapsed on top of Seven of Nine.

Unceremoniously, she pushed his body off of hers and stood up. "Computer, deactivate EMH," the Doctor ordered, and he shimmered out of existence.

If Seven's calculations were correct, she now had less than three minutes to decrypt the locking mechanism on the crew quarters. Her hands flew over the console at the Doctor's work station. The code shouldn't be too hard to break.

"Bridge to sickbay," she heard the voice of the Duar Captain over the comm. "Please report."

Seven knew she couldn't reactivate the Doctor yet, and she certainly couldn't respond to the Duar Captain. She let the call go unanswered. Soon, she heard it again. Again, she ignored it. Just a few more seconds, and the crew would be free. Of course, with no one to organize them into an efficient unit, she had no idea what would happen, but at least this would be an improvement over their current situation. She keyed in one final sequence and the computer signaled to her that her mission had been accomplished. She knew the Duar would be entering sickbay any moment to investigate what had happened to their colleague, but she planned to be long gone by the time they arrived.

The first Duar guard who arrived just missed seeing the Jefferies tube hatch close as he discovered his cohort lying unconscious in sickbay.

"Computer, activate the emergency medical hologram," the guard barked.

The Doctor materialized in front of him. "Please state the nature of the medical emergency."

"What happened to him?" the guard asked.

"I have no idea," the Doctor replied smoothly. "I must have gone offline. Perhaps my program has been damaged."

The guard glared at him, not believing him. "Revive him," he ordered the EMH. The Doctor got the appropriate hypospray and woke the fallen Duar.

As soon as he came to, the fallen guard became animated. "You drugged me!" he accused the Doctor.

"I did no such thing," he replied. "I'm a Doctor. It's against my programming to cause harm."

"Does your programming include _lying_, Doctor?" The Duar was becoming angry, but his companion laid a hand on his arm.

"Yarro," the second guard said, "calm down. Besides, I think we have bigger problems on our hands." He walked over to the comm panel. "Officer Birka to Captain Greeda. Sir, I think we may have a problem."

...

"How long do we have to stay in our quarters?" Naomi Wildman asked her mother impatiently.

"I don't know, sweetheart," Samantha replied. "Until Lieutenant Tuvok can figure out a way to get the ship back from the Duar."

"Won't Captain Janeway come rescue us?"

Samantha smiled and ran a hand through her daughter's hair. "I'm sure she'll do her best," she replied.

At that moment, the door to their quarters opened. Samantha stood, astonished, reflexively grabbing her phaser. Perhaps Tuvok had found a way to release them. She leaned out of the doorway and peered into the hall. Other members of the crew were doing the same thing. The Duar guards who were scattered through the corridor drew their weapons. "Naomi, get back!" Samantha ordered her daughter. She and several other crew members drew their phasers, firing on the Duar. The element of surprise was with them for the moment. When the guards in the corridor had dropped to the deck, Samantha looked back at her daughter, who was standing, watching the whole thing.

"Naomi, I think you should stay here," she said. "It's going to be dangerous."

"But, Mom, I want to go with you," the child replied.

"Stay here where it's safe." Naomi crossed her arms. She had no intention of staying in her quarters while the rest of _Voyager_'s crew fought the hostile aliens. "Don't argue with me, Naomi," her mother warned.

"All right," Naomi said, sounding defeated.

Her mother kissed her forehead. "I love you," she said.

"I love you, too, Mom. Be careful."

Samantha nodded to her daughter and set out down the corridor. She didn't look back to see that a few minutes later, Naomi followed.

...

Captain Greeda paced back and forth along the length of _Voyager_'s bridge. "Report!" he barked.

Officer Trillo, Greeda's second-in-command, replied, "Our lock on the crew quarters has been disengaged, sir. I don't know how. The codes were encrypted, and I can't understand them. We're not getting any response from our officers on decks four, seven or eight. Birka and Yarro have locked down sickbay, but they're the only ones we're hearing from on deck five. Our officers on decks ten through thirteen are encountering resistance, but they're managing to keep a hold on those sections for now."

"Damn it!" exclaimed Greeda. "I knew these humans would be tricky." Greeda's green scales rippled as he paced. His crew recognized this as proof of his fury. "What about the brig?"

"The brig remains secure," Trillo replied, "but remember, the drone was sent to sickbay several hours ago."

Greeda shook his head, cursing himself. "That's how they did it. Somehow the Borg decoded our locking mechanism." He brushed it off. "It doesn't matter. We still hold more than half the ship. Erect forcefields around the bridge and engineering. Use our best encryption codes. Try to find something that even the Borg won't be able to break." He turned to the helmsman. "Boda, increase speed to maximum."

"Yes, sir," Officer Boda replied.

Warro Greeda resumed his pacing, his scales continuing to ripple. This day was _not_ going the way he had planned.

...

Naomi stared down at the creature that lay collapsed before her. She knew that either her mother or one of the other officers had shot him, but this was the first time she had seen a Duar up close. The aliens were tall, and their bodies were covered with shimmering, green scales. They had spiky hair; this one's was jet black, and long, blue teeth. Naomi did not think they were pleasant to look at. She was just about to step over the body when she heard a sound in the hallway. Frightened, she pressed herself up against the wall of the corridor, trying to remain invisible.

She realized that the sound was emerging from behind a nearby Jefferies tube, and she shrunk back into the wall as far as she could. What would she do if it was a Duar soldier? She should have stayed in their quarters like her mother had told her to. She watched nervously as the hatch opened, and a face appeared from it. Suddenly, Naomi felt relieved. "Seven!" she exclaimed.

"Naomi Wildman," Seven observed. "What are you doing here?"

"My mother wanted me to stay in our quarters, but I want to help save the ship. With Captain Janeway gone, her assistant has to do something, right?"

Seven raised an eyebrow. She turned to the access panel in the corridor, checking the life signs on the ship. "There are no Duar life signs on this deck or on decks seven and eight," Seven observed. "But the Duar are quickly closing in on our location. Follow me," she ordered Naomi, setting off quickly down the corridor.

As they moved through the hallways, Seven ordered the crew members that they saw to assemble in cargo bay 2. Checking an access panel once again, she saw that the Duar were closing in on their position. Hurriedly she opened a Jeffries tube. "Naomi Wildman, we must leave this deck before the Duar find us."

The child crawled into the Jeffries tube. Seven followed her and shut the hatch behind them. It was four decks down to cargo bay 2 and Seven was concerned about the young girl's stamina. At first, Naomi crawled nearly as quickly as Seven, but when they reached the ladder that they had to descend, Naomi was too short to climb down it comfortably.

"Grab my shoulders," Seven ordered. Naomi complied and Seven travelled down the Jeffries tube with the girl clinging to her back. Moments later, they emerged into cargo bay 2. Apparently, much of the crew had gotten the message to assemble here. Seven scanned the room, and guessed that approximately fifty individuals were present. That left over fifty people unaccounted for, but she couldn't worry about that right now. The crew members were murmuring softly to each other, and the volume of their speculation increased when they saw Seven emerge from the Jeffries tube.

"Naomi!" Samantha exclaimed, seeing her daughter exit the hatch with Seven. "What are you doing here?" Naomi hung her head, knowing her mother would be angry with her for disobeying orders.

"Ensign Wildman," Seven interrupted, "I ordered Naomi to accompany me here. I did not believe she would be safe in your quarters."

Naomi looked up at Seven gratefully and gave her mother a hug. The chatter of the other officers continued until Seven demanded, "Silence!"

Everyone in the cargo bay quieted immediately. Seven of Nine quickly looked around, taking stock of who was present and who she could trust. These were all junior officers, unaccustomed to leading teams or heading missions. "Our first priority is to re-take _Voyager_. At this time, we have eliminated the Duar presence on decks seven and eight. I believe that our next priority should be main engineering. If we can gain control of engineering, we will be able to reroute many of the bridge functions and retake command of the ship."

"What about Lieutenant Tuvok and Ensign Kim?" asked Ensign Hickman.

"We will launch a rescue team," Seven replied. "We must keep the Duar occupied on all fronts, so that they cannot successfully defend any system. We have the advantage of knowing this ship, its layout and its capabilities far better than they do. Lieutenant Nicoletti, take Ensigns Vorik, Ashmore, Mulcahey, Lang and Murphy. Your goal will be to take main engineering. Crewmen Dell and Jarvis will also accompany you. Use Jeffries tube 17 Alpha. Try to avoid detection by the Duar as long as possible. Avoid using the comm system unless absolutely necessary. We have to assume that the Duar are monitoring our communications from the bridge."

"Understood," Nicoletti replied.

Seven turned to another member of the crew. "Lieutenant Ayala, you will head the rescue team. Crewman Chell, Ensign Hickman, Lieutenant Hargrove and Ensign Parsons, you will accompany him. The brig will be heavily guarded. If the Duar are as crafty as they appear to be, they will not permit us to use site-to-site transport within the ship. You will have to take the Jefferies tubes. Try to avoid detection at all costs. Once you have freed Lieutenant Tuvok and Ensign Kim, return with them to cargo bay two."

"Yes, ma'am," said Ayala.

"What are you going to do, Seven?" Naomi asked.

"I am going to return to sickbay. I do not want the Doctor to fall into the hands of the Duar. We also must attempt to find out what the Duar have done with the Captain. Ensign Wildman, will you accompany me?" Samantha nodded.

"Can I come too?" Naomi asked.

"You need to stay here, where it's safe," her mother ordered.

Megan Delaney was standing nearby and overheard the conversation. She approached the Wildmans. "Come on, Naomi," she said. "I have something you can help me with."

Samantha smiled at Megan gratefully. Naomi looked back at her mother and then at Megan. She was too smart to think that this wasn't a ploy, but she accepted it after hugging her mother briefly.

Seven addressed the crew once more. "The rest of you will remain on decks seven and eight. Your goal will be to prevent the Duar from entering these decks. Divide into teams and cover every access point. If you see any other Starfleet crew members, inform them that cargo bay two will serve as our command post. You should report back here when your duties have been discharged."

There was a general chorus of, "Aye, ma'am," and "Understood."

"Very well," said Seven. "Good luck."


	4. Chapter 4

Seven of Nine crawled through the Jefferies tube with Samantha Wildman close on her heels. When they reached the hatch that led to sickbay, Seven pulled out her tricorder, scanning for life signs beyond the hatch door. "There appear to be two Duar in sickbay," she said quietly to Ensign Wildman. "We must use the element of surprise to our advantage." Sam nodded behind her, phaser at the ready. Seven released the hatch, trying to do so as quietly as possible, and stepped into sickbay.

"Hey!" one of the Duar yelled, pointing at her. Seven stunned him quickly, although the second guard managed to fire a shot before Samantha Wildman dropped him to the ground.

"Seven!" the Ensign exclaimed. "Are you hurt?"

Seven was holding her right arm, where the Duar's disruptor beam had grazed her. "I am not badly damaged," she replied.

"Computer, active emergency medical hologram," ordered Wildman.

The Doctor appeared in front of them. "Please state the nature..." He abruptly cut himself off when he saw Seven clutching her arm in pain. "Seven!" he exclaimed. "What happened?"

"I was damaged when we entered sickbay," she replied through clenched teeth. "Apparently the Duar react more quickly than we had anticipated."

As the Doctor got out his dermal regenerator, he began to anxiously ask her about the state of the ship. "Did you manage to free the crew? Have we regained control of the ship?"

"We have freed at least half of the crew, and we are using cargo bay two as a command post. I have dispatched teams to attempt to secure engineering and to rescue Lieutenant Tuvok and Ensign Kim from the brig. We must erect a level ten forcefield around sickbay." The Doctor finished with the dermal regenerator and Seven quickly moved to one of the consoles in sickbay. She created the forcefield around sickbay to keep the Duar out and secured it with a series of Borg encryption codes.

"Doctor, where's your mobile emitter?" asked Ensign Wildman.

He grimaced. "I haven't seen it since the Duar came on board. It would be much easier for me to help you retake the ship if I had it back."

"We will attempt to assist you, Doctor, but your mobile emitter is not our first priority at this time," Seven responded.

"What about them?" the Doctor asked, gesturing to the two Duar guards laying unconscious on the floor of sickbay.

"Perhaps they will be more willing to cooperate without their weapons," Seven suggested. She removed the weapons from the two guards and the Doctor helped her move them to two biobeds. "Doctor, can you keep them sedated for now?" she asked.

"Of course." He paused. "What are you thinking, Seven?"

"Doctor, is there a substance that could incapacitate the Duar in a gaseous form without harming the members of _Voyager_'s crew?"

"I don't know," he replied. "I'll have to learn a little more about Duar physiology before I can tell you what."

Seven gestured to the two unconscious Duar guards who now lay on the biobeds. "You have two excellent specimens," she said dryly.

"I'll get to work on it right away."

"Excellent. Ensign Wildman, assist him."

"Yes, ma'am," Samantha replied. She saw Seven turn to go and asked, "Where are you going?"

"I am returning to cargo bay 2 to determine the status of the other teams. With my Borg technology, I can pass through the forcefield without being damaged."

"Good luck, Seven," the Doctor said after her, watching as she entered the Jefferies tube and closed the hatch behind her.

...

"Report!" Captain Greeda ordered, green scales rippling.

Trillo sat at what was normally Commander Chakotay's station and examined the screen in front of him. "Small fights are breaking off all over the ship. Some injuries but no casualties yet. We've lost contact with Yarro and Birka, and a forcefield has been erected around sickbay."

"Can you deactivate it?"

"Not yet, sir. The command codes to deactivate it have been encrypted. It looks like some sort of Borg algorithm."

"So it is the drone," Greeda mused. He sat back in the captain's chair, trying to think. If he were in the _Voyager_ crew's position, what would he do? He would probably try to take back vital systems. Which meant that they would either come to the bridge directly, or... Greeda leapt out of his chair. "Send reinforcements to the engineering section," he ordered. "I think they're going to try to take back the ship from there." It made sense. Engineering was much closer to the decks controlled by _Voyager_'s crew than the bridge was. Besides, they surely knew that on the bridge they would be heavily outnumbered and outgunned, whereas perhaps, in engineering, they'd been hoping to take him and his officers by surprise. He chuckled to himself. They would have no such luck.

"I've sent an additional two teams to the engineering section," Trillo reported back.

"Good. Tell them to guard every access point. And I mean every access point. Make sure they study the ship's schematics for that section. I want them to know every possible entrance to the engineering section and to have it guarded."

"Yes, sir." Trillo paused. "What about the brig?" he asked. "Surely, they'll try to rescue their crew members from the brig as well."

"I think we have enough guards in the brig already," Greeda said. "Besides, even if they escape from the brig, where are they going to go? We'll still have control of their ship." And with this thought, Warro Greeda let out a loud laugh. It was turning out to be a good day after all.

...

When Seven of Nine emerged from the Jefferies tube into cargo bay two, she found Naomi Wildman anxiously awaiting her. "Seven!" the child exclaimed. When she realized that the former drone was alone, she asked, "Where's my mom?"

"Your mother remained in sickbay to assist the Doctor. Do not be concerned. I erected a level ten force field around sickbay. She will be safe."

"Ok," said Naomi, still looking a little concerned. "Is the Doctor okay?"

"He requires his mobile emitter, but his program has not been damaged." Seven looked around the cargo bay. "Has anyone from either of the other two teams returned yet?"

"Not yet," Naomi replied. "Crewman Dalby came in, though."

"Thank you, Naomi Wildman," Seven replied. "I must go speak to him." She approached him and called, "Crewman Dalby."

He whirled around to look at her. "What?" he asked. Dalby had adjusted to life on _Voyager_ over the years, but he still retained a trace of the disdain for authority he had learned in the Maquis.

"Report on the condition of the ship," she ordered.

Dalby hadn't had many dealings with Seven of Nine, but he didn't like her attitude much. He knew that she was Captain Janeway's special reclamation project, but technically, she didn't have any rank. "Why don't you go see it for yourself?" he retorted.

"Crewman Dalby," Seven said, her tone softening as she saw that the direct approach might not be the best with this particular crewman. "We require your assistance. You may have vital information about the status of the rest of the ship."

Dalby relaxed as Seven's tone became more accommodating. "I came from deck eleven," he explained. "We were all let out of our quarters down there, but there were too many Duar. A lot of people got shot and put back in their quarters. I managed to crawl into a Jefferies tube in the confusion. I ran into Ayala and he told me to head here."

"I see. Can you tell me anything about the type of weapons the Duar are using?"

"I don't think they're killing people, if that's what you mean. It seems like they want us incapacitated, not dead."

Seven nodded curtly. "Thank you, Crewman. You have been of great assistance."

"No problem," Dalby threw back as the former Borg walked away from him. It was too bad her attitude was so cold, he mused, when her body was so appealing.

The hatch that led to the Jefferies tube cracked open and Seven instantly raised her phaser, aiming it directly at the hatch. But she lowered it when she saw Harry Kim's head emerge from the narrow corridor. He was followed by Lieutenant Tuvok and the rest of the rescue team. "Ensign Kim, Lieutenant Tuvok," she greeted them. "It is... good to see you."

"It's good to see you too," Kim said, relieved.

Tuvok looked around the cargo bay. "Report," he ordered.

"I have established a command center here," Seven replied. "We currently hold possession of decks seven and eight as well as sickbay. Ensign Wildman is in sickbay assisting the Doctor in developing a way to incapacitate the Duar by transmitting some sort of gas through the ventilation system. Lieutenant Nicoletti and her team have gone to take control of engineering."

"That may be easier said than done," Tuvok replied. "The Duar knew that we were attempting to take control of the ship. They most likely also knew that a rescue would be attempted, yet they did not send additional guards to the brig. The only logical explanation for this behavior would be if they were confident that we would not take control of the ship even if Ensign Kim and I were released."

"I did not think of that alternative. That may explain why Lieutenant Nicoletti has not returned," Seven said, disappointed in herself.

"You did not possess all the relevant data," Tuvok replied.

"How should we proceed?" Seven asked, clasping her hands behind her back.

"Attempting to regain control of engineering would have given us a significant advantage," Tuvok said. "But if the Doctor and Ensign Wildman are successful, we can access environmental controls on deck 12."

"If the Doc can figure out a way to incapacitate the Duar, we can retake the ship while they're all passed out," Kim said excitedly.

"Ensign Kim, your enthusiasm is noted. However, we must investigate the Doctor's progress before we jump to any conclusions," Tuvok replied. "We have to assume that the Duar have already locked us out of all primary systems, including the environmental controls. It may take us quite some time simply to be able to access them. And since the Duar remain in control of deck 12, it may be difficult to access environmental controls at all, let alone manipulate them to send some sort of hazardous gas through the ship."

Kim looked crestfallen for a moment, but then his face brightened. "Not if we create a diversion," he pointed out.

"Elaborate," ordered Seven.

"We could create a team to launch another attack, or an attempted takeover. Maybe we try to take engineering again, or maybe it's the bridge this time. We get the Duar to think that that's our last ditch attempt to retake the ship, but really, we'd just be drawing their firepower away from deck 12, giving the real mission a chance to succeed."

Tuvok raised an eyebrow. "Ensign Kim's suggestion does have merit."

Seven nodded. "I will go to sickbay to assist the Doctor and Ensign Wildman and see if they have made any progress." At that moment, Seven felt a hand on her leg. She turned around. "Naomi Wildman. Have you been... eavesdropping?"

"I guess so," the child said sheepishly. "I wanted to know what was going on."

"Well, now you do,' Seven replied.

"Seven, if you're going to sickbay, will you tell my mom I said hi, and to be careful?"

Seven's expression softened and she replied, "I will comply." Then she headed back to the Jefferies tube hatch, leaving Tuvok and Kim to come up with a diversion that would allow their plan to succeed.

...

"I wonder what these cabins were doing here in the first place," Lieutenant Torres mused as she, Tom and Neelix trudged across the snowy plain.

"I don't know," Tom replied. "I can't imagine anyone wanting to live here."

"The snow people of Arkantic live in temperatures much colder than this," Neelix said. "Their planet never warms to above zero degrees celsius. But of course, they have enclosed walkways that lead between all their buildings."

"An enclosed walkway sounds nice right about now," said Paris.

"I think I see the cabin that the Captain mentioned," B'Elanna said, pointing. "Over there."

In the distance, they could see a small structure. As they approached it, they began to see that it was fairly dilapidated, but they also saw smoke rising from the chimney where Chakotay had built a fire. He had suggested that they all rendezvous at the cabin since it contained a fireplace and plenty of warm blankets, so Tom, B'Elanna and Neelix had agreed to make the journey across the snowy plain. Neelix had brought a fresh catch of the small animals that they had eaten the night before because the Captain had mentioned their dwindling food supplies.

They walked up to the cabin and Neelix knocked on the door. "Anybody home?"

They heard the Captain's voice, "Come in."

Neelix reached down to the handle and opened the door. The hinges creaked loudly as he did so. He stepped inside, relishing the warmth. He and the others still wore only their normal clothes. The cave had been an improvement from the outside, but even with a fire, it hadn't been as warm as this. "This is cozy!" Neelix exclaimed. Captain Janeway laughed. Leave it to Neelix to remain optimistic at a time like this. Neelix came all the way inside, and Tom and B'Elanna followed close behind him. They immediately walked over to the fire and leaned towards it, rubbing their hands together.

"This is great," Paris said, with genuine appreciation.

"Where's Chakotay?" B'Elanna asked, looking around.

"He went back to the forest to restock our firewood supplies. After all my years of warp plasma, I forgot how fast firewood goes." Janeway looked out the window, trying to gauge the time of day by how light it was. "He should be back any minute."

"I brought something to cook," Neelix said, holding up a few small animals tied to a stick.

"Thank you, Neelix," said Janeway. "That's very thoughtful." She gestured to the fireplace and the pot.

"We ate them last night, too," Tom said. "They're not bad."

As Neelix went to work at the stove, the Captain sat in the room's single chair. "Have a seat," she said to her crew members. Tom sat down on the lumpy bed and B'Elanna sat on the floor near the fire.

Torres was the first to speak. "So, Captain, what's our plan?"

...

Chakotay whirled around, axe in hand. He could have sworn he had heard something in the forest behind him, and he still had the strangest feeling that he was being watched. But after several moments, he still saw nothing, and he resumed his chopping. The snow was beginning to fall again, and it was coming down faster each minute. He just had a few more logs to split, and then he would head back to the cabin with the logs on the makeshift sled he had constructed out of the spare boards behind the cabin. As the axe came down on the log again, Chakotay was sure he heard a sound, but he turned around just a half a second too late. Before he could reach for the axe to defend himself, a large wolf-like creature was on top of him, its teeth gnashing at his face. He felt a jolt of pain as the creature's claws dug into his shoulder, but then he saw a bright flash of light, and the monster yelped in fear. It took one more swipe at his face with its paw and ran off. Just before he blacked out completely, Chakotay could have sworn he heard a human voice.

...

The small cabin was not large enough for Janeway to pace, so she stood, looking out the window, watching the snow fall. Chakotay had been gone for hours, and they had been unable to reach him on his comm badge. He could be out of range, or the comm badges could be malfunctioning again, but Janeway didn't think so. "This isn't like Chakotay," she murmured. She reached a decision, and turned around to look at the three crew members in the cabin. "I'm going to look for him," she announced. "I know where he was chopping wood yesterday."

"We're coming with you, Captain," said Paris.

She shook her head. "Stay here where it's warm. The last thing we need is for us all to suffer from hypothermia."

"If Chakotay was attacked, you might need help," Torres argued. "Maybe whatever attacked him is still lurking around."

"Or maybe there are some kind of alien beings on this planet," interjected Tom. "If they took Chakotay, they could take you, too, and then we'd be no better off."

"And if they take all of us?" Janeway countered. "Where will we be then?"

"At least we'll be together," Paris replied.

"Come on, Captain," said Neelix. "Four are better than one."

She looked at their faces each in turn and then the corners of her mouth turned up in a half-smile. "All right," she said. "We stick together. Make sure you take some blankets with you since Chakotay took the only coat."

"Didn't he ever learn to share?" quipped Tom.

"When we find him, I'll make him pay for that," Torres assured her companions in a lighthearted tone. But they all knew that under that tone was genuine concern for Chakotay's safety.

"Take with you anything that can be used for warmth or as a weapon," the Captain ordered. "We don' t know what we're going to run into out there." Tom, B'Elanna and Neelix began scrounging around the cabin for anything that could be used as a weapon. They found a small knife and a couple of spare boards out back. There wasn't much to choose from.

Janeway brought in some snow from the outside and heaped it on the fire, assuring that the cabin wouldn't burn down in their absence. They each grabbed a couple blankets to wrap around themselves and set out in the cold. Janeway hoped that they would find Chakotay, and that when they did, he would still be alive.

...

Senna watched the tarpak scamper off into the woods, crying softly at its injuries, and she ran towards the humanoid form now laying on the ground. His face was covered in blood, and she could see tissue and bone protruding from the wound in his shoulder. She attempted to rouse him, but to no avail; he remained unconscious.

She looked around. His companions would come looking for him eventually, but they might be too late. Even if they did find him in time, they had no medical equipment with which to treat his injuries. At best, he would survive... barely. At worst, he would die of infection or loss of blood. Senna shook her head in a gesture of defiance towards no one in particular. She would not allow that to happen. She insinuated her arms under the strange man's body and hoisted him up. She dragged him several meters back to the lift shaft, where she collapsed on the floor, exhausted from dragging a body that was twice her size. As she bent over him, her long, brown hair brushed the man's face.

He stirred, and at first she thought he was going to wake. "Kathryn," he murmured.

Senna shook his shoulders gently. "Hey, can you hear me?" But he had slipped back into unconsciousness and did not respond. Senna sighed as she activated the lift. Gadril was going to give her hell for this.


	5. Chapter 5

There was a bright light shining in the room, and he was lying on something soft. Those were the first two facts of which Commander Chakotay became aware as he slowly regained consciousness. The third was a dull ache in his left shoulder. As he opened his eyes, he realized that he had no idea where he was. As he slowly looked around, he realized that parts of his vision were blocked. Perhaps there were bandages on his face? He was lying on a bed in a white-walled room that looked like some kind of a medical facility. He propped his elbows under him, attempting to sit up when he felt a small hand on his shoulder.

"Don't try to get up," a female voice said. "That tarpak really did a number on you."

Chakotay looked up and realized that a small humanoid female with long, brown hair was standing over him. She had dark eyes - almost black - and a series of brown spots played across her forehead. "Who are you?" he asked. As he moved his mouth, the pain he felt told him that the injuries to his face had been severe.

"My name is Senna."

"I'm Chakotay."

"It's nice to meet you, Chakotay." She said his name slowly, as if trying a foreign food on her tongue.

"Where am I?"

"You're in the Kaylahn city of Tyrek, in one of our medical facilities," she explained.

Realization slowly dawned on him. "You saved my life. Thank you."

"Don't thank her yet." A third voice joined the conversation, as a male of Senna's species entered the room. He had the same black eyes as she did, although he was tall and lanky, where she was petite and thin.

Senna gestured to him. "This is Gadril, my brother. Gadril, this is Chakotay."

Gadril crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, Chakotay, you should know that my sister violated all kinds of laws when she brought you down here." At first Gadril seemed harsh, but then his tone softened. "Of course, I can't blame my sister for having such a big heart. She can't bear to see anything die."

"If you don't want me here, I'll be happy to go rejoin my people," Chakotay said, starting to get up again.

"Woah," Senna stopped him. "Your injuries aren't healed yet. If we send you back up there, the smell of your blood will just attract another tarpak."

Chakotay looked puzzled. "_Up_ there?"

"Our cities are underground," Gadril explained. "The surface of Kaylahn is far too cold for a civilization to thrive."

"So there _was_ somebody else here," Chakotay said, almost to himself.

"We've actually been watching you since you arrived," Senna admitted.

"I have to get back to my companions," Chakotay said. "They'll be looking for me."

Senna and Gadril exchanged a look before she turned back to Chakotay. "They already are. We've been monitoring their movements."

Chakotay took a deep breath, trying to focus his mind through the pain that he still felt in his shoulder and on his face. "Please, let me contact them," he said.

Gadril shook his head. "Impossible. We don't allow any contact with outside species."

"Then you'll have to return me to them," Chakotay said. "I'll take my chances with the... what did you call it?"

"Tarpak," Senna supplied.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple," Gadril explained. "Now that you know of our existence, our ruling council has to decide what to do with you."

"Besides, Chakotay, you haven't healed yet. At least wait one more day."

Chakotay didn't see how he had much choice. He lay back in the bed and began to ponder how he was going to make contact with the Captain.

...

"Report," Greeda demanded.

"You were correct, sir," Trillo responded. "A group of _Voyager_'s crew members did attempt to take control of engineering. We were able to head them off, and we are holding eight of their crew members in the brig. Some of them are injured, but I didn't think you'd want to risk allowing them to be taken to sickbay."

"A wise precaution. No, clearly, sickbay is off limits for the moment. We can't trust that holographic doctor of theirs." Greeda's scales rippled in fury. "Any luck disabling the forcefield?"

"Not yet, sir. We're working on it."

"When will we arrive on Duar Prime?" asked Greeda.

"In less than two hours," replied Boda from the helm.

"Open a channel to the President's Office," Greeda ordered.

"Channel open," came the voice of one of his officers who stood at the tactical station.

A young Duar woman appeared on the screen. She had the same green scales and blue teeth as the rest of them, but she was slightly more petite, and long, orange hair flowed down her back. It was Leena Ferro, the President's secretary. "Mr. Greeda," she said, surprised. "I thought you were away on a mission."

"I was," Greeda replied with a small smile, "but I'm coming back early. It turns out that the planet I was sent to colonize was nothing more than a block of snow and ice... but then, you wouldn't know anything about that would you, Leena?"

Ferro looked flustered. "I don't know what you're talking about, Mr. Greeda," she said, as sweetly as she could.

"I'd like to speak with President Norro."

"The President is unavailable at this time, Mr. Greeda. Perhaps you could try back later." She maintained her sweet smile as if it were plastered onto her face.

Greeda's expression darkened and his eyes narrowed. "I will speak to the President now, Leena, or I will blow his grand estate to pieces!"

"Mr. Greeda," she replied patronizingly, "we all know that your ship couldn't blow anything to pieces."

"That's where you're wrong, Ms. Ferro," he replied, emphasizing the use of her formal name. "You see, I have a new ship. And it has enough fire power to blow up half the city if that's what I want to do."

Leena's skin went from its normal green color to a sickly yellow, and she suddenly looked very worried. Greeda saw her pick up the interoffice communicator on her desk and speak into it. "Mr. President," she said, "Mr. Greeda wishes to speak with you. He says if you don't talk to him now, he's going to blow up the city." Her voice squeaked and everyone on _Voyager_'s bridge could see her skin rippling in fear.

A moment later, her image was replaced with that of an elderly, stately looking Duar. He looked extremely displeased. "Mr. Greeda. What's this I hear about you threatening to blow up my city?"

"Correction, Norro. _My_ city. You may have tried to send me off on a pointless mission to a barren planet, but I have better things to do than get shuffled around in your bureaucracy. As you'll see, I've acquired a ship. I don't have to take your leftovers any more, Norro."

"Warro," the President said, trying to get the other man to calm down, "let's talk this over like gentlemen. Surely you don't think that blowing up cities is the way to get what you want. There are other solutions."

Greeda shook his head. "You eliminated all the other solutions when you stole the last presidential election from me!"

"I didn't _steal_ anything. I was elected fairly. The council ruled that the election was fair and legal."

"That's because the _council_ is under your thumb!" Greeda spat back.

Norro sighed. "This bickering is pointless. Please, Mr. Greeda, let's talk this out. I'm sure we can come to some sort of compromise. If being the head of the Bureau of Colonization and Relocation isn't enough for you, I'm sure we can find another position that will better suit your talents."

"No!" Greeda's voice rose. "No matter what I do, you'll just try to get rid of me. You sending me off to that snow planet is proof."

"It was only proof of our trust in your ingenuity..."

Greeda cut off the President abruptly. "No more excuses, Norro. I'm coming back to Duar Prime to take back what is rightfully mine. If you're not prepared to hand it over when I arrive, then prepare to be destroyed." Greeda signaled his officer to cut the transmission and sat back in his chair. "Increase speed to maximum," he ordered Boda. He couldn't wait to taste his revenge.

...

Seven leaned over Harry Kim's shoulder, looking at the console in front of them. Tuvok was explaining the plan for their diversion. "We will have two teams - one led by myself and one led by Mr. Kim. Mr. Kim's team will head for the bridge and mine will go to engineering. We will enter from here and here." He gestured to the access points on the diagram in front of them. "The likelihood of our taking the bridge or engineering is remote; however, we must hold out as long as possible to give Seven a chance to succeed in her mission." He paused, looking at Seven for a moment. "Seven and Ensign Wildman will go to deck twelve and access environmental controls so that a gaseous agent may be distributed throughout the ship."

"The Doctor has found a gas that will incapacitate the Duar but should have little or no effect on _Voyager_'s crew," Seven said. "He estimates that he will be ready to proceed in two hours."

"Very well," said Tuvok. "I suggest that we all take the next two hours to rest. It is going to be a busy day."

...

Janeway felt a sick feeling in her stomach. They had been out in the forest for several hours, but there was still no sign of Chakotay. They had found his axe stuck in a log, mid-chop, so they knew where he had been working. They had scoured the nearby area but had found nothing that would lead them to the Commander's whereabouts. The snow was falling hard and fast, and it had obscured any tracks that might have been made long before they arrived. Janeway was feeling the cold start to get to her, in spite of the blankets that she held wrapped around her, and she knew that it would soon be time to head back to the cabin, even if they found nothing.

Neelix approached her. "Still nothing?" he asked. She shook her head. "Well, if he had been attacked, surely we would have found evidence of it?" he said, trying to keep her spirits up. "Don't you think?"

"Maybe," she replied, doubtful. "The snowfall might have obscured any evidence that was here."

"I'm sure that the Commander was rescued by some friendly inhabitants," Neelix said optimistically.

"If they were so friendly, then why haven't they told us where they are?" Tom replied. "Or brought Chakotay back to us?"

Before Neelix had a chance to rebut Tom's caustic remarks, B'Elanna cried, "Captain! Over here!"

The three of them ran in the direction of Torres' voice; at least as much as they could run in the heavy snowfall. "What is it?" Janeway asked, breathless, as she approached B'Elanna's position.

Torres was gesturing to a lever hidden inside what appeared to be a tree. "It's some sort of mechanism," she said.

"What does it control?" the Captain asked.

"I don't know, but I'd guess that whatever it is, it's around here."

The Captain pulled her blanket tighter around her and ordered, "Start digging. We need to find out what's under this snow."

After several minutes of clearing snow away from the area near the lever, Neelix exclaimed, "Over here! It looks like some sort of hatch."

Janeway knelt down beside him. "You're right, Neelix. Let's see where it leads." She stood back and let Tom and Neelix pry it open.

Tom peered inside the shaft. "It looks like some sort of lift, Captain," he said, his voice echoing into the chamber. "There's some kind of control panel, I think. It's hard to tell where it goes, though."

For the first time in hours, Janeway felt a pang of excitement. "Well, let's see where it goes," she said. "B'Elanna, what happens if you throw that lever?"

The half-Klingon shook her head. "I don't know, Captain."

The gleam of excitement shone brighter in the Captain's eyes. "Well, let's find out." She, Tom and Neelix lowered themselves into the chamber, and B'Elanna threw the switch. Suddenly, the lift came to life; the panels on the wall lighting up. It began to shake, and Janeway immediately went over to the control panel, examining it.

"Hurry, B'Elanna!" Tom shouted. A few seconds later, Torres' feet appeared, dangling over the edge of the hatch into the lift. Tom helped her down and she joined the Captain at the control panel.

"It looks like these controls send the lift to different places," Torres murmured. "But I don't know what this language means."

The lift was shaking more severely. "Well, you better let it take us somewhere," said Neelix. "It doesn't seem to like sitting here."

Torres keyed in a sequence. She had no idea where this would lead them; they simply had to hope for the best.

...

Greeda sat, lounging back in his captain's chair. He had made use of _Voyager_'s replicators and was indulging in some _forkritia_, his favorite dish since childhood. Somehow he doubted that Janeway had ever indulged in such delicacies while sitting in this chair. The thought gave him pleasure as he shoveled more _forkritia_ into his mouth. Trillo's console beeped, and Greeda saw him turn to look at it, pressing several buttons. "Anything wrong?" he asked.

"Captain, I had sensors track the _Voyager_ crew's movements through the Jefferies tubes as you asked, and they're on the move again."

Greeda sat his plate in his lap as his scales rippled with dissatisfaction. "They just don't know when to quit. Where are they headed?"

"It looks like they have a team headed for engineering and one headed for the bridge."

Greeda laughed. "They think that by attacking us in two places at once they'll be able to gain some ground. Increase security to both of those locations, and make sure the encryptions on the forcefields are the best ones you've got."

"Yes, sir," said Trillo.

The Duar Captain's eyes narrowed. "I may have gotten this ship by deception, but they better damn well see that I can keep it by force if I have to."

"Yes, sir," Trillo replied, hoping that they would be able to accomplish Greeda's plan.

...

"Once Ensign Wildman and I have accessed environmental controls from deck twelve, we will immediately transfer them here to sickbay," Seven explained to the Doctor. "You will have a short time in which to administer the gas before the Duar realize what we are doing."

"I understand," the Doctor replied.

"Lieutenant Tuvok and Ensign Kim's teams are already on their way to engineering and the bridge. Hopefully they will divert the attention of the Duar so that we will not be detected."

The Doctor pressed a couple commands into the console in front of him. "The gas is ready to be distributed. It may make some of the _Voyager_ crew lightheaded, but it won't have any serious effects." One of the Duar guards stirred at that moment. The Doctor quickly went over to him with a hypospray and he became motionless again. "I'll be glad to get these two out of my sickbay," the Doctor quipped.

"Hopefully, you should not have to wait too long," Seven replied, raising one eyebrow. She turned to Wildman. "Ensign Wildman, we should proceed."

"I'm ready, Seven," Sam replied.

The two women headed once again for the Jefferies tube hatch. "Doctor, I will be deactivating the forcefield for a few seconds to allow Ensign Wildman to pass through."

"I understand, Seven. Good luck." And with that, they were on their way.

...

The lift plummeted downward, through layers and layers of rock. Janeway, Torres, Paris and Neelix held with all their might onto the rails that formed a border around the chamber. "Are you sure this thing is safe?" Neelix shouted over the din.

"I think it would be if I knew how to operate it!" Torres shouted back.

"B'Elanna, see if you can slow us down," the Captain ordered.

Torres fidgeted with the controls. "Maybe this will do it," she muttered, but the lift only began to shake even more than it already had. "Nope. All right. What about this?" She keyed in a different sequence. She didn't like all this guess work; she preferred to know something about alien technology before she staked her life and the lives of her friends on it. The lift began to stabilize and slow down. Torres breathed a sigh of relief and saw her companions relax as well. Their relief was short-lived, however, as the lift came to an abrupt stop. The jolt threw the Captain to the ground, and Paris slammed up against B'Elanna. Neelix's knuckles were white from the force of his grip on the railing.

The stop had been shocking, and it took the Captain a moment to recover. She slowly sat up. "Everyone all right?" she asked.

Paris was extricating himself from B'Elanna, and Neelix's face was white as a sheet. "I'm fine," Tom replied, glancing worriedly at Torres. He had landed squarely on top of her. "B'Elanna are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she managed through clenched teeth, but as she tried to stand, she let out a cry of pain.

"What is it?" Tom asked, instantly supporting her with his hand on her elbow.

"I think it's my ankle," she said. Tom knelt down in front of her, allowing her hands to rest on his shoulders for balance. He touched the ankle in question, probing it gently. "Ouch!" Torres exclaimed.

"Sorry," he said with a grimace. "I think it's broken, B'Elanna."

She gritted her teeth. "I'll live."

Neelix was finally relaxing his grip on the railing and collecting himself. "I seem to be all in one piece," he said, more to himself than anyone else. He looked at the Captain, and his startled expression told her there was something wrong. "Are you all right, Captain?"

She had been too preoccupied with their situation to think about it, but now that Neelix asked, Janeway realized that her head was pounding. "Just a slight headache," she replied. "I'm fine, Neelix."

Tom had turned towards her, as well. "That's a pretty nasty cut you got there, Captain," he said, looking at her with concern.

Gingerly, she touched her fingers to her forehead, and found that it was sticky with blood. "I'll be fine," she repeated. "We have to figure out a way to get out of here."

"Agreed," said Tom. Neelix moved towards the Captain and offered her his hand. She took it and slowly stood. The small chamber spun around her for a moment, and she had to hold tightly to Neelix's arm to keep her balance. She swayed slightly; enough to make Tom say, "Captain, maybe you should sit down."

She took a deep breath and relaxed her grip on Neelix's arm, regaining her equilibrium. "We have work to do, Mr. Paris. Let's start with trying to open the hatch." They looked up at the hatch they had used to enter the lift. None of them could reach it by standing on the ground.

Suddenly B'Elanna pointed. "There," she said. "It looks like some kind of door mechanism." The other three turned around and looked where she was pointing. Upon further study, they realized that there was some sort of door, but it was well camouflaged in the walls of the lift.

"Can you open it?" asked the Captain.

"I'm working on it," B'Elanna replied, fiddling with the keypad once again. She was starting to get the hang of these alien controls. After just a few moments, the door slid open to reveal... blackness.

"What I wouldn't give for a flashlight right about now," said Tom.

Janeway peered into the dark corridor. "Come on," she said, motioning for the rest of the away team to follow her. "Stay close." Tom threw B'Elanna's arm over his shoulder and helped her limp along behind the Captain. Neelix was not far behind them. The Captain felt her way along the walls of the tunnel, squinting to try and see anything in front of them, but there was just blackness. The cut on her face was beginning to sting as her adrenaline started to wear off. She wondered briefly if it was the cut she had sustained in the woods, just split open again. Oh well. It didn't matter now.

"Captain, look!" Tom exclaimed.

As she squinted into the tunnel again, she thought she saw light, or at least something lighter. She began to move a little faster. "How are you doing, B'Elanna?" she asked.

"I'm all right, Captain," Torres replied, limping along with Tom's support.

"What I wouldn't give for a tricorder about now," the Captain said wryly, echoing Tom's earlier wish. They were definitely approaching a light. Whether it was natural or generated by some alien device, she could not tell. Finally, they could clearly see that they were approaching an opening to the tunnel. "Stay back," the Captain ordered. She pressed her body up against the wall of the tunnel and inched forward until she could get a clear picture of what lay beyond the entrance.

It was a thriving alien city, with buildings that towered many stories above them, tree lined streets and thriving shops. The air was warm, and humanoids walked through the streets, greeting each other pleasantly. They wore simple tunics and trousers in light colors; many of them carried baskets or bags. As Janeway continued to look up she realized that the entire city must be underground. She saw the walls of a giant cavern stretch up and up and up. The city was lit, as if by the sun, but she reasoned that the light must come from an artificial light source. She looked back towards the rest of the away team and motioned to them to come forward. The locals looked friendly, and approaching them directly seemed like her best option. Janeway and the others slowly emerged from the tunnel.

The Captain saw a woman passing by carrying a basket on her hip. She reached out to stop the woman as she passed. "Excuse me. We're not from around here. Can you help us?"

The woman's eyes grew wide in astonishment and terror. She screamed, dropped her basket and ran away from them as fast as she could. The Captain looked back at Tom, B'Elanna and Neelix, puzzled. She hadn't intended to scare anyone.

"Maybe these people don't get many visitors," Torres suggested.

Suddenly, the Captain heard a voice from behind her. "You must be Captain Janeway."


	6. Chapter 6

"We are approaching Duar Prime, sir," Boda informed everyone on the bridge.

"Excellent," Greeda replied. "Open a channel."

"Channel open."

This time, Norro appeared on the screen immediately. Warro grinned; his reputation preceded him. This time, there was no need for him to speak with Leena Ferro. "Greeda, we won't allow you to do this," the President said firmly. "At this very moment, the entire militia is standing by."

Greeda laughed. "Norro, I know all the tricks in the book. The Duar militia could barely stand up to a flock of spiglits, much less a starship of _Voyager_'s firepower."

"Greeda, we have a system here. A political system. An established bureaucracy. Do you really want to destroy everything our people have worked for simply because you're disgruntled?"

Greeda stood and took a few steps towards the view screen. "That's not all that this is about, Norro. Our _bureaucracy_ is failing. The last election is _proof_ of that. I'm here to take over and see that our _system_ changes for the better."

For the first time in the conversation, Norro felt that Greeda was speaking his language. "Look, Captain Greeda, I agree with you that our system is far from perfect. I know you were a great military leader for the Duar all those years ago, and back then, perhaps who had the bigger guns could dictate policy. But we've moved beyond that now."

"No, you've just substituted favors and pull for guns," Greeda replied. "I couldn't get elected because I didn't know the right people. It had nothing to do with my ideas or my abilities."

Norro sighed. "_Captain_ Greeda," he said, stressing the other man's honorary title, "I know that you have a great many good ideas about how our government should be run. Why don't you disable your weapons and come down here so we can talk about them? I'm sure we can reach a compromise."

Greeda's scales rippled in frustration, and he exclaimed, "No! Norro, you have _one hour_ to evacuate the capitol. Leave it ready for me to come in and take over. My weapons are trained on the center of the capitol now; on all the government offices. If you're not _all_ gone in one hour - no tricks, no deceptions, no politics - then I'm prepared to fire." Greeda threw up his hand and the transmission cut off abruptly. He turned around and walked back to his seat, sliding into the Captain's chair. "There," he said to Trillo triumphantly. "I think I made my point."

...

Kathryn Janeway whirled around at the sound of her name and found herself looking at a tall, lanky male. He was a humanoid with dark hair and dark eyes; brown spots made a trail along his face like the other members of his species she had seen here. "Who are you?" she asked, "and how do you know my name?"

"There will be plenty of time for explanations later. Right now, you and your people have to come with me."

Janeway didn't move. "Why?"

The man looked around anxiously. "The fewer people who see you here, the better. Come on."

The Captain still didn't budge, and with her hand, she signaled the rest of her team to stay put as well. "Why should I trust you?"

"Well, first of all, I'm probably one of only two people in this city that you actually can trust. But I don't expect you to take my word for that. Second of all, I know where your first officer is."

Janeway looked at him sharply. If it was true, she had to go with him, to find out where Chakotay was. If he had been talking to Chakotay, it would explain how he knew her name and knew that she was missing her first officer.

"Come on!" the man prodded, looking around again. Others were pausing to look at the strange grouping of ragged aliens in the street. "I'm a doctor. I can treat your injuries."

"All right. We'll go with you."

"Good. Now, hurry." The man led them into a less busy area of the town, and they walked through several alleyways. The alleys contained back entrances to rows of buildings, many of them connected together. They seemed to be made of wood and brick-like compounds, and most stood five or six stories tall. Many of the buildings were brown or grey, but occasionally they would pass one that was painted a bright color; the doors themselves ranged in color from blues to reds to purples and greens. Many of the windows were lined with flower boxes that contained plants of all shapes and sizes. Occasionally, they would see an alien face peering out the window at the figures walking below, but for the most part, the alleyways were deserted. The ground beneath their feet was solid rock, and Janeway wondered if the city had been built directly on the rock that lay below the planet's surface. She was burning with questions about this city, its people, her first officer and their guide, but he didn't seem to want to talk until they arrived at wherever they were going, so she held her tongue. She glanced back at the other members of her team who followed close behind her. The pain on B'Elanna's face was visible, but she seemed to be managing with Tom's assistance, and Neelix was looking around the city with great curiosity.

After several minutes of walking, they reached a doorway. The light blue door led to a six-story building. The windows on the ground floor were decorated with white curtains, and an array of plants sat in pots on the window sills. Their unexpected guide took a key out of his pocket and opened the door, beckoning them inside. Janeway stepped into what appeared to be the back room of some kind of an office. When they all had stepped inside, the tall, lanky alien closed the door behind them and observed them with thinly veiled curiosity.

"I'm sorry for all the secrecy," he said, "but my people don't like outsiders very much."

"We don't mean you or your people any harm," the Captain replied. "We were stranded on your planet by a group of aliens who stole our ship. Now, I know you already know my name, but let's have the formal introductions, shall we? I'm Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation starship _Voyager_. This is Ensign Tom Paris, Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres and Ambassador Neelix."

The man smiled. "I knew that, actually. But I'm not being fair to you. I'm Gadril. As I mentioned to you before, I'm a doctor. This is my office. My sister and I live in the apartment upstairs. Now, let's see if I can't help you out with your injuries."

"I think her ankle is broken," said Tom, nodding at B'Elanna, whom he still supported with one arm.

"Well, come right through here," said Gadril, opening the door that led further into the building. "Looks like you have a pretty nasty cut as well, Captain. I better take a look at that for you."

"He'll do better than just take a look," came a familiar voice from the next room.

"Chakotay!" the Captain exclaimed, as her first officer appeared in the doorway. She took two steps towards him and stopped just short of throwing herself into his arms. B'Elanna and Tom exchanged a questioning glance. Restraining herself, Janeway put a hand on her first officer's chest. He had bandages on his face and his left shoulder. "Are you all right?" she asked.

He nodded, his eyes not leaving hers. "I'm fine, Captain." He brought his hand up to her forehead. "I'm not sure I can say the same for you."

"It's just a scratch. I'll be fine." She broke the gaze they shared and removed her hand from his chest. "B'Elanna needs help much more urgently than I do."

"Right this way," Gadril said. He led them into a large examining room, the same room where Chakotay had been when he first awoke. Tom helped B'Elanna onto the bed, and Gadril began to examine her ankle.

Neelix followed them into the room. "Commander, it's good to see you!" he said.

Chakotay smiled. "It's good to see you, too, Neelix."

"What happened to you?" Janeway asked.

"I was in the woods collecting firewood when I was attacked by something called a tarpak," Chakotay explained. "Senna rescued me and brought me here."

"Senna?" asked Kathryn.

"My sister," Gadril replied. He turned back to B'Elanna. "It is broken," he said. "I'm going to wrap your ankle in a bioregenerative compound. It will help the bone repair itself within a day or two, but until then, you won't be able to put weight on it."

"Thanks," said Torres.

"How did you get here, Captain?" Chakotay asked.

She smiled ruefully. "We came looking for you. We found some sort of lift that led below the surface. When we found our way out of the tunnel, we ran into Gadril here." She paused. "Speaking of which, how did you know where to find us?" It had just occurred to her that he had not been there when they arrived by coincidence.

"Very perceptive, Captain," Gadril said with a grin. "The lift you found is old; my people don't use it anymore. Or at least they're not supposed to." He grimaced. "My sister uses the old lifts to make trips to the surface, even though it's forbidden. She's something of a scientist, and she spends a great deal of time monitoring activities on the surface. That's how she was able to rescue Chakotay."

"I see."

"We knew that you might come looking for him, and we've been monitoring you for the past day or two. When you disappeared from our sensors, I thought there was a pretty good chance you had found one of the old lifts and used it to come down here."

"Mr. Gadril," Neelix piped up, "you said that it was better if as few others as possible saw us. Why is that?"

Gadril was concentrating on B'Elanna's ankle, but he had obviously done this procedure many times and he spoke with ease. "For many years, our people haven't associated with outsiders. That's why we're not allowed to go to the surface. Our leaders would prefer that no off-worlders knew of the Kaylahn's existence. Chances are good there are already rumors that you're here, but unless an inspector comes knocking at our door, we can probably keep it secret for a little while. I'm going to have to ask you not to leave the building."

"For now, that shouldn't be much of a problem," said Paris. He watched the doctor cover B'Elanna's ankle in a clay-like compound that hardened almost instantly when he applied it.

"Our first priority needs to be getting in contact with the rest of our people," said Janeway. "Do you have any sort of communications array?"

"We don't, Captain, I'm sorry. That's the price we pay for being isolationists, I guess." He turned to Torres. "You're all set. I'll take it off in a day or two, depending on your progress."

"Thanks," she said as Tom helped her off the table.

"Your turn, Captain," Gadril said, extending his hand to her and helping her up on the bed. She couldn't help but smile in return; he was charming.

At that moment, they heard a knock on the door. Gadril froze, a look of anxiety on his face. He motioned to all of them to stay quiet, and went to the front of the building to see who was there. He closed the door to the examining room on his way out, hoping that if it was another Kaylahn, they wouldn't need to enter the examining room. He checked the screen that showed him who was standing outside the door and relief flooded him. He opened the door to admit Senna. "You scared me half to death," he said. "I thought maybe you were an inspector."

"Nope," she said with a smile. "How was your day?"

"Interesting," he replied with a devilish grin. Senna was going to flip when she saw who was in his office. "Come with me. I have something to show you." He returned to the examining room, and when he opened the door he saw all the occupants jump a little. "It's all right," he assured them. He motioned to his sister to enter and introduced her. "This is Senna." When Senna entered the examining room her jaw dropped. She knew who these people were from her observations of them on the surface and from Chakotay's descriptions.

Standing from the bed, Captain Janeway approached her and offered her hand. "I'm Captain Kathryn Janeway. This is Ensign Tom Paris, Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres and Ambassador Neelix."

Senna was nearly speechless, but she managed to stammer, "It's an honor to meet you."

Gadril chuckled, led Janeway back to the bed and explained his sister's wide-eyed wonder. "You're only the second off-worlders Senna has ever seen, after Chakotay."

"And you?" Torres asked. "You seem to be taking this all in stride."

Gadril grew contemplative as he began to examine the wound on Janeway's forehead. "I can still remember the days when outsiders came to Kaylahn," he said wistfully. "I was just a small child, but in those days, we had contact with all kinds of species. We even had our own ships that went on exploratory missions. By the time Senna was born, the isolationist government had taken over, and all of that was destroyed."

"What happened?" asked Tom.

Gadril shrugged. "We were cheated or attacked one time too many, I guess. We have all the natural resources we need here, underground. Anything that isn't natural, we've developed the technology to create ourselves. We invented shielding that makes our cities virtually impossible to detect from passing ships, and the surface is so inhospitable that no one wants to settle here. Our leaders decided that it would be safer for us to remain in isolation; not to have contact with any other races, rather than expose ourselves to the risks of war, deception and other negative outside influences. That was almost thirty years ago."

Torres whistled softly under her breath, shaking her head. A species that had outlawed space travel because it was too much of a risk. "Are you _happy_ to live that way?" she asked incredulously. "Knowing that there's so much more out there but being prohibited from seeing it for yourselves?"

"I'm not," Senna said. "I think that our government is wrong. We have so much to gain and learn from other species. They're holding us back from progress." Senna's inner spark and youthful optimism were obvious; in many ways she reminded Janeway of Kes.

"I'm sympathetic to your feelings, Senna," the Captain said as she felt Gadril dab her wound with a cold cloth. It stung a little, but she did not complain. "But we have to figure out how we're going to get out of here. We need to get back to _Voyager_." The doctor rubbed a cold gel over her forehead and covered it with a bandage.

"You'll be good as new in a couple days, Captain," he assured her.

"Thank you, Doctor." She stood from the bed and began to pace the short length of the room.

"The Captain's right," Chakotay said. "We need to try and figure out some way to contact _Voyager_."

Senna's face lit up. "We used to be able to contact other species. How did we do it then, Gadril?"

"There was a communications array in the center of the city, but it was dismantled years ago. I'm sure the pieces are in a junk pile somewhere."

Senna's face fell, but B'Elanna began to latch on to her idea. "If we could get the right components, we might be able to build a device that would amplify the signals of our own communicators."

Gadril looked pensive. "I think most of the old technology was recycled, but there are some old dumps outside of the city."

"I'm sure we could find what we need there!" Senna exclaimed enthusiastically.

Gadril put a warning hand on her arm. "Not so fast, Senna. We can't all just go marching through the city and rooting through the dump. Someone will get suspicious."

She thought about this for a moment. "What if we use the old tunnels that connect the lift system? I bet we could manage to get from here to the dump using them."

"All right," Gadril said. "We'll try it. Get out your maps of the old tunnels and we'll try to figure out a route. But we're not going until tomorrow. Our guests need some rest and a good meal."

"Ok."

"Now that we're done here, why don't you all come upstairs to my apartment," said Gadril. "We'll figure out sleeping arrangements later, but for now, you all look like you could use some food."

"That's an excellent idea, Mr. Gadril!" said Neelix enthusiastically. "We haven't had a good meal for days! How can I help you in the kitchen?"

...

"Now, remember," said Kim to the team crawling behind him in the Jefferies tube, "our goal is to give them as much trouble as possible, and keep them distracted for as long as we can. I'll go first. Ayala, follow me when the opportunity presents itself."

"Aye, sir," Ayala replied with a grin. This was just the kind of covert mission he enjoyed, and he was beginning to feel a little bit like he was back in the Maquis again.

They reached the hatch that led to engineering, and Kim gestured to the rest of the team to stay back. He expected there to be at least one Duar guard waiting on the other side of that hatch. He opened the hatch and was not disappointed. He was rudely yanked out of it by a Duar with green scales rippling. "Got you!" the Duar exclaimed.

Kim stood straight and still, not responding. The Duar looked at him curiously. "Where's the rest of your team?" he asked.

"I came alone," Kim said.

"I don't believe you." The Duar shook his head and motioned for another guard to watch Kim while he bent over and leaned inside the Jefferies tube. Kim took advantage of the guard's momentary distraction and hit him squarely in the midsection as he bent over. The Duar fell back against the bulkhead, reaching for his weapon, but Kim managed to stun him first, simultaenously evading the fire of the other guard. He scurried down the ladder to the lower level of engineering, leading the other Duar away from the Jefferies tube hatch. Harry hoped that Ayala would see his golden opportunity, but he didn't have time to look back now; he was too busy evading the fire of the Duar. As he ducked behind a bulkhead, he saw phaser fire on the upper level. Ayala and his team had made it through. Now they just had to keep these Duar bastards distracted for as long as possible.

...

At approximately that same moment, Tuvok held up his tricorder, attempting to deactivate the forcefield that blocked his path. The Duar were tricky, but their technology was not nearly as advanced as Federation technology, and Tuvok knew that he could crack the encryption. A few decryption sequences later, the forcefield in front of them dematerialized. "Move quickly," Tuvok ordered, knowing that the Duar would reactivate the forcefield as soon as they could. He gestured to Ensign Hargrove, ordering him and half of the team to head to the right, while he and the rest of the team went to the left. Tuvok and his men would attempt to penetrate the bridge via the briefing room, while Hargrove and the others would enter the bridge directly.

Tuvok and his team emerged into the briefing room. It was unoccupied. But then, the only place to go from here was the bridge. Tuvok stood near the door that led to the bridge, listening for evidence that Hargrove and his men had entered. He gestured to the rest of his team to stay back and silent for the moment. The sound of weapons fire on the bridge told him that it was time. At a sign from his hand, his team stood at the ready, and as the doors to the bridge swished open, Tuvok opened fire.

...

Sweat was a decidedly unpleasant aspect of humanity, thought Seven of Nine as she maneuvered quickly through the Jefferies tube, Samantha Wildman close behind her. A bead of sweat was making its way down her forehead and she felt an instinct to stop, reach up and wipe it away. _Discomfort is irrelevant_, she thought, and continued climbing down the ladder. They reached deck twelve, and Seven pulled out her tricorder, scanning for life signs on the other side of the door. At the moment, there were none. The corridor was deserted. She opened the hatch and jumped down into the hallway. Wildman closed the hatch behind them. Staying close to the wall, phasers at the ready, the two women began to move along the corridor towards the section where environmental controls were lodged. They approached a corner, and Seven peered around it. Two Duar guards stood along its length, their weapons at the ready.

"There are two Duar in this corridor," she whispered to Ensign Wildman. "We must incapacitate them." Wildman nodded, and Seven stepped out into the corridor, neatly targeting and stunning one of the guards. The sound of his colleague being shot brought the other Duar to attention. He attempted to signal the bridge on the comm system, but Ensign Wildman dropped him to the ground before he had the chance. "Excellent work, Ensign," said Seven with approval.

"Thanks," Sam muttered. The sooner they got this mission over with, the better as far as she was concerned. She and Seven set out down the corridor in a light jog, stepping over the bodies of the two fallen Duar guards. At the next corner, they faced a similar situation, and again, incapacitated the two guards. At the end of the corridor were the environmental controls. Seven hurried over them and Samantha brought up her weapon, ready to cover her. They stood at a corner, and Wildman did her best to watch for intruders from both directions. Seven's fingers flew over the controls as she tried to decrypt the Duar access codes. A guard approached from one of the corridors, but Ensign Wildman managed to shoot him before he could call for help.

There! She was in. Now it was just a matter of transferring the controls to sickbay. It would only take a few more seconds. Seven heard another shot behind her, but she didn't turn and look, remaining focused on her task. On the third shot, she heard Ensign Wildman cry out in pain, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw her companion fall to the ground beside her. She only needed a few more seconds; she didn't turn around.

"Step away from the control panel," said a Duar voice from behind her.

Seven did not let her focus wane. "I will not comply," she said. Just one more key. As her finger pressed the final key of the transfer sequence, she felt a searing pain rip through her body; it was the burning of a Duar disruptor blast.


	7. Chapter 7

_Voyager_'s bridge was quiet; sedate. Aside from the presence of Duar officers in place of Starfleet ones, everything seemed almost normal. The members of Tuvok's team lay unconscious on the floor. Only Tuvok himself remained aware of his surroundings, and he was being held at gunpoint, standing near the back of the bridge. Greeda had told the Vulcan that he wanted at least one member of _Voyager_'s crew to witness his triumph in person. Tuvok felt this was illogical, but was grateful for the opportunity to remain conscious nonetheless.

"We have entered orbit around Duar Prime," Boda reported.

"Has it been an hour since our last transmission?" Greeda asked.

"Yes, sir," replied Trillo, who still sat in the first officer's chair.

Greeda turned to the officer standing at Tuvok's station. "Scan the surface. Are there life signs remaining in the capitol?"

The officer looked confused. "I can't tell, sir. They seem to have some sort of shielding up."

Greeda's scales rippled with displeasure. "Hail them," he ordered.

"Channel open."

Norro's face appeared on the screen. The President had lost his demeanor of ease. His own scales were rippling as he answered Greeda's transmission. "As you can see, Greeda, we are not willing to give up the government to a terrorist."

"A terrorist?" Greeda spluttered. "I am a decorated military officer. How dare you call me a terrorist? I'm no criminal. You're the one who stole an election."

Norro's tone was steely. "You're the one who is willing to kill hundreds of people to get what he wants."

Greeda threw up his hand to end the transmission, and the view screen went black. "Target the capitol building and prepare to fire," Greeda ordered.

Tuvok tensed, considering his options. He had no intention of allowing this Duar to use _Voyager_ as a weapon of mass destruction. He looked hurriedly around the bridge, trying to see if any other members of his team had regained consciousness. He knew that he had no chance against a dozen Duar alone; but if he could just distract them for a moment... He caught the eye of Lieutenant Hargrove, who had just regained consciousness. Hargrove was still lying on the deck and the Duar had not yet noticed that his eyes were open. Tuvok glanced surreptitiously at Hargrove and then moved his eyes to the operations console near Hargrove's position, trying to communicate with the lieutenant without attracting any attention. Hargrove nodded, barely perceptibly, and Tuvok turned his gaze back to the view screen, hoping none of the guards had noticed the direction of his eyes.

"I've targeted the city, Captain," the officer said. Hargrove chose that moment to make his move. He lunged towards the operations station, knocking down the Duar officer who stood there in surprise. Greeda and the other officers turned towards Hargrove, who, for the moment, was avoiding their weapons fire and had managed to wrestle the gun away from the guard he had knocked down. Tuvok took advantage of this moment to wrap his hand around the neck of the guard at his own station, rendering him unconscious with a Vulcan neck pinch. As the Duar officer fell to the floor, Tuvok quickly disabled the weapons systems.

"Step away from the console," came Greeda's voice. Tuvok looked up and realized that the Duar captain had a disruptor rifle pointed straight at him. He stepped away from his station, and glanced over to Hargrove, who had also been disarmed and was now standing at the point of a gun. "I've been nice up till this point," continued Greeda. "But no longer. I haven't killed any of your people; only incapacitated them, but that ends right now. Unless you reactivate the weapons, I am going to kill him." Greeda gestured towards Hargrove.

Reluctantly, Tuvok stepped back to his station. "I will not assist in the murder of hundreds of people," he said.

"Then you will be responsible for the murder of your own crewman," Greeda replied.

Tuvok raised an eyebrow. "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one," he said. "It is logical."

"If you insist," Greeda said, turning towards Hargrove and aiming his weapon. Before he could fire, he began to swoon, as if losing his balance. "What the..." he began, but didn't finish. He found he was gasping for air, unable to breathe. He clutched at his throat. Trillo, Boda and the other Duar on the bridge began to do the same. Tuvok could sense no change in the atmosphere, and Hargrove seemed unaffected as well, but Tuvok knew this meant that Seven of Nine had been successful in her mission.

After a few seconds, the Duar were lying unconscious on the bridge next to their Federation counterparts. Hargrove let out a sigh of relief. "Lieutenant Hargrove, hail the surface," Tuvok ordered, moving to the center of the bridge.

Hargrove moved quickly to the tactical station. "Channel open," he said.

"Greeda, if you're going to..." President Norro trailed off into silence when he saw a male of an unfamiliar species standing in front of him, the bodies of the Duar officers laying unconscious all around him.

"I am Lieutenant Commander Tuvok of the Federation starship _Voyager_."

"Lieutenant Commander Tuvok. I am President Norro of the Duar Republic. What happened to Captain Greeda?"

"Captain Greeda has been temporarily incapacitated," Tuvok replied. "Through a series of deceptions, he and his crew managed to take control of _Voyager_. We have been trying to regain control of our ship for the last few days."

Norro let out a sigh of relief. "Mr. Tuvok, I can't tell you how relieved I am to hear that. Let me be the first to assure you that Captain Greeda's actions were not sanctioned by the Duar government. In fact, he was planning to overthrow our government using your ship's superior technology. The Duar people are greatly in your debt."

"Perhaps you would like to send a team to retrieve Captain Greeda and his men," Tuvok suggested.

"Yes, yes, of course!" Norro replied smoothly. "I'll have a ship sent up right away. We'll also need to conduct a formal investigation into this matter. Would you mind if a few of our detectives came up to take some images and interview some members of your crew?"

"That is acceptable," said Tuvok. "However, I would like to have a member of our security team present at all times."

Norro nodded. "I understand, Mr. Tuvok. I'm sure you won't be quick to trust us after this incident."

"It is standard procedure. Now, Mr. President, if you'll excuse me, we have many repairs to conduct."

"Of course. I'll speak with you again once Captain Greeda has been returned to our custody."

"Very well. Tuvok out." Hargrove cut the comm, and Tuvok asked for a damage report.

"Reports are slowly coming in from all decks, sir," Hargrove replied. "Heavy casualties in engineering. They're working on getting everyone to sickbay now. Most decks reporting minimal damage."

"Thank you, Lieutenant." Tuvok moved to the operations station, quickly disabling the forcefields that the Duar had established around the ship and also disabling the forcefield Seven had erected around sickbay; then he opened a ship-wide comm. "This is Lieutenant Commander Tuvok to all hands. The Duar have been incapacitated. Duar investigators will be coming aboard to take custody of them. Please cooperate with these investigators and answer their questions to the best of your ability. If any Duar do regain consciousness, you have authority to restrain them by any means necessary." He cut the ship-wide comm and opened a new channel. "Bridge to sickbay."

"Sickbay here," the Doctor's voice replied. "What can I do for you, Lieutenant Tuvok?"

"Doctor, the Duar have been incapacitated. You successfully transmitted the pathogen throughout the ship."

"The emergency medical hologram saves _Voyager_ and her crew once again," the Doctor's voice replied smugly.

Tuvok raised an eyebrow, but did not respond to the Doctor's puffery. "Prepare for heavy casualties, Doctor," Tuvok ordered.

"Understood. Sickbay out."

He tapped his own comm badge. "Tuvok to Seven of Nine." There was no response. "Tuvok to Ensign Wildman." Still nothing. "Computer, locate Seven of Nine."

"Seven of Nine is on deck twelve," the computer responded.

"Lieutenant Hargrove," Tuvok ordered, "go to deck twelve and find Seven of Nine and Ensign Wildman. They may be injured."

"Aye, sir." Hargrove left the bridge and Tuvok began to move from crew member to crew member, assessing their injuries and slowly awakening them. There remained a lot of work to do.

...

Senna's flashlight lit the tunnel ahead of them, and she studied the map in her hand carefully. Janeway, Chakotay and Neelix followed close behind her. Gadril needed to stay behind to tend to his normal appointments, and B'Elanna's ankle had not yet healed sufficiently for her to join them. It was unfortunate; they could have used her engineering expertise in their materials search, but Kathryn's own engineering knowledge would have to do. Tom had stayed behind as well to keep B'Elanna company. The Captain had asked Neelix to accompany the team as well; she knew that his knack for recognizing usable junk would come in handy.

"It's not much further," Senna said, consulting her map. "We just have to turn to the left up ahead." They followed the tunnel ahead to the left and emerged into a vast junk yard. As far as the eye could see, piles of debris climbed towards the sky. It ranged in size from small scraps of metal to what had once been entire vehicles.

"Would you look at that?" Neelix exclaimed under his breath. This place would have been a paradise to him back in the days when he had dealt in this sort of stuff. Chakotay whistled softly and shared an astonished glance with Kathryn. They had believed Senna when she said there would be a lot to choose from but they never imagined something like this. The junk yard must have stretched for two or three square kilometers.

"There aren't any security cameras?" Chakotay asked.

"Most of my people don't even know this place exists, and even if they did, most of them wouldn't have any interest," Senna replied bitterly.

"You don't much like the way your people do things, do you?" Neelix asked.

Senna smiled wanly. "No, not much."

"All right," said Janeway, slipping into command mode. "Our first priority is to find any components that could be used to create a transmitter or to enhance the communications range of our communicators. Neelix and Senna, why don't you head in that direction, and Chakotay and I will start over here. We'll meet back here in one hour. Bring anything that you think might be useful, even if you aren't sure."

"Aye, aye, Captain," Neelix replied. He looked at Senna and smiled to her. "Come on." Senna looked like she was about ready to jump out of her skin with excitement. This was the kind of adventure she had dreamed about having ever since she was a little girl.

Janeway chuckled as she bounded after Neelix towards one of the junk piles. "She reminds me a little of Kes," she said softly, as she and her first officer set off in the opposite direction.

"I know what you mean. All that energy, her wide-eyed wonder."

"Her endless optimism." Janeway's face clouded. "Too bad she'll have to discover the way the rest of the world really is one of these days."

"Not if she stays here."

Janeway looked over her shoulder in the direction where Neelix and Senna had already disappeared. "Somehow, I don't think she'll be happy with that for the rest of her life."

He nodded. "No, I don't think so either."

She pointed to a pile of debris that looked promising. "Chakotay, over here." She waded through the base of the pile towards some conduits that looked like they might be of some use, and started to sift through them. He began to do the same.

"I wonder what happened that made these people cut off all contact with outside species," he pondered aloud.

She smiled. "I guess it would be a great anthropological puzzle, wouldn't it?"

"Too bad I won't have more time to study it," he answered wryly.

She looked back at him, her expression serious. "If we don't find a way to communicate with _Voyager_, you might have a very long time to study it, Commander."

"I guess I better get back to work," he replied with a smile, trying to cheer her. He returned his full attention to the pile of junk in front of him.

Janeway was fascinated as she examined several items that lay in front of her. She tried to imagine what systems they had comprised. Had they been pieces of a starship? Of a communications device? Much of the wiring was rusted or mangled beyond repair, but she found a few pieces that looked like they might be salvageable and set them aside. Then, she saw a glint of something out of the corner of her eye and moved away from Chakotay to investigate. It was difficult to maintain her footing in the junk pile, and she had to grab onto stray components in order to keep her balance. She reached the item that had caught her eye, but it was buried beneath a pile of wire and other junk. She hurriedly began to dig it out, slowly realizing that she might have discovered something of great importance. Something about its shape had caught her eye, even though it had been covered in other debris. It looked somehow familiar, and as she uncovered it further, her eyes widened. "Chakotay!"

He came running when he heard her scream; she did not realize that it had sounded like a scream of terror. "Kathryn!" he shouted breathlessly, stumbling over rusty conduits and stray pipes as he hurried to her side. "Kathryn, what's wrong?"

She looked at him, puzzled. "Nothing is wrong," she said, her voice shaking.

He looked at her closely, seeing blood on her arms and tears in her clothes. "You're bleeding! Are you all right."

She looked down at her arms for a moment. "That? It's just a scratch. Forget about it, Chakotay. Look at this."

He peered over her shoulder at the large piece of debris in front of her, and as he examined it more closely, the reason for her urgency slowly dawned on him. "It looks like a fully intact long range transmitter," he said softly.

"I know," she replied excitedly. "Help me dig it out." Her enthusiasm was infectious, and Chakotay felt his adrenaline pumping in spite of himself. Together, they removed the remaining debris surrounding the console, and were able to get a closer look.

"I've never seen a system wired quite this way," Chakotay said as he examined the back panel of the console.

Kathryn was looking at the keypad. "I know. Maybe Senna and Gadril can help us make sense out of these controls."

Chakotay looked at the console more closely. "Kathryn, just because it appears to be in tact doesn't mean that it still functions."

"I know. In fact, I'm sure there are pieces missing. Look at this." She pointed to a gap where there was clearly a part missing.

Chakotay stood, hands on his hips, and looked at the dirt around them. "We're never going to be able to find one missing piece in all this debris."

She crossed her arms. "I know. But maybe we can find enough raw materials that B'Elanna and I can rebuild it."

He nodded. "We're going to need Neelix's help to carry it out of here."

"I know. It's probably almost time to meet up with him and Senna anyway. We can come back here and get it."

Chakotay headed back out of the junk pile, offering Kathryn his hand as they made their way over broken conduits and old components of ships. When they reached the end of the pile and stood on the sandy ground once more, he stopped her and began to take inventory of her injuries. The wire in the junk pile had cut her arms in several places but most of them didn't seem to be too deep.

"Chakotay, I'm fine," she said.

"You're bleeding," he replied softly. Most of the cuts were just scrapes, as she had said, but one of the cuts on her arm went deeper and was bleeding quite a bit. Her adrenaline was running too high for her to notice, but it had not escaped him. It wasn't life threatening, but he might as well stop the bleeding while he could. He tore a strip off the white tunic that he was wearing; Gadril and Senna had given them all some clothes to wear so that they wouldn't stick out so much even if they were seen. Gently, Chakotay bandaged the wound with the strip of cloth, tying it tightly enough to stop the bleeding, but not too tightly. When the bandage was tied, he looked into Kathryn's eyes, his expression betraying more emotion than his words.

She looked back and smiled softly. "Thank you." She was met with a small smile in return. The moment passed, and she was back to business. "Let's go meet the others and tell them what we found." He nodded his assent and offered her his hand as a help in crossing the difficult terrain. She took it, and they headed back towards the rendezvous point.

...

"I hate all this waiting around," B'Elanna Torres growled. She was sitting on a sofa in Senna and Gadril's apartment with her leg propped up on an ottoman.

"Just think of it this way, we're getting back at Neelix for all that leola root stew," Tom replied, trying to cheer her up.

B'Elanna was about to bite back a retort, but she realized that Tom was just trying to help, and she had nothing to gain by alienating him, too. She sighed. "I guess. I just wish I could be doing something to help."

Tom slid closer to her on the sofa and put his arm around her shoulders. "I'm sure that once the Captain gets back, you'll have plenty of work to do," he reassured her.

B'Elanna nodded and relaxed her head onto his shoulder, relishing the comfort he offered despite her frustration. Senna and Gadril had offered them clothes, food and a place to sleep. They had been more than generous. But, because of their circumstances, Tom and B'Elanna weren't allowed to leave their apartment or make any noise while Gadril was downstairs treating his patients and covering his daily appointments. B'Elanna understood this perfectly, but that didn't make it any less frustrating to be forced to sit and do nothing while she knew there was so much that had to be done. "Tom, can you imagine living on a world where you weren't even allowed to explore the surface of your own planet?"

"I don't think I can," he said. "But I bet it's a lot more common than we realize. Think about the Ocampa."

"I hadn't really thought about that. It's just so hard for me to imagine."

"Me too." Impulsively, Tom leaned over and kissed B'Elanna's forehead. She looked up at him and their lips met momentarily. "Well," he said with a grin, "the circumstances may not be ideal, but it is nice to get a little alone time."

This made Torres chuckle, and Tom felt glad that he had finally lifted her spirits enough to make her laugh. At that moment, they heard a commotion downstairs and they froze, thinking that maybe their presence had been discovered, but then they heard familiar voices and footsteps on the stairs, accompanied by a loud clunking. Tom jumped up to see if he could help, and found Chakotay, Gadril and Neelix trying to maneuver a very large console up the stairs.

Once they had gotten the console into the apartment and had gone back downstairs to retrieve the remaining components that they had salvaged, Janeway stood in front of the mess with her hands on her hips. "Well, Lieutenant, what do you think?" she asked Torres.

B'Elanna had limped over to the console and was examining it carefully. "You found an entire transmitter?" she asked incredulously.

"Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay found it!" Senna replied excitedly. "It's missing a few components, but we think that we've found enough materials that we should be able to reconstruct it."

Torres looked at Janeway, eyebrows raised. "We?"

Janeway returned the glance and said, "I guess we've got our work cut out for us, Lieutenant."

...

Things were beginning to get back to normal on _Voyager_'s bridge. Several teams from the surface had reclaimed the Duar bodies that had been scattered throughout the ship when the Doctor's pathogen had rendered them unconscious. Warro Greeda had been taken into custody and was supposedly going to stand trial for a long list of crimes. Injuries to the _Voyager_ crew had been relatively minor. Lieutenant Nicoletti and Ensign Vorik had been badly injured in their attempt to take engineering, and their injuries had been compounded by the fact that the Duar had thrown them in the brig and not allowed them to receive treatment, but the Doctor was working on them and had assured Tuvok that they were out of danger. Seven of Nine and Ensign Wildman had also been badly injured by Duar disruptor weapons, but they, too, were on their way to a speedy recovery.

Tuvok glanced around the bridge. Aside from the notable exceptions of the senior staff that remained missing, the situation had improved considerably. "Status report, Mr. Kim," he said.

"All decks are reporting in, sir. Warp drive is on line, and the modifications that the Duar made to our forcefields have been restored to normal. The Doctor is reporting that several crew members are being treated for minor headaches due to the pathogen used to incapacitate the Duar, but he assures us that this is a minor side effect and won't last long. Environmental controls have also returned to normal, sir."

"Thank you, Ensign." Tuvok turned back to the tactical station. "Lieutenant Ayala, please open a channel to the surface."

"Aye, sir. Channel open."

President Norro's face appeared on the screen, and he smiled. "Ah, Lieutenant Commander Tuvok. I can't thank you enough for all your cooperation. You and your crew have saved our city." He spoke smoothly, with all the polish of a practiced politician.

"President Norro, have you or your investigators been able to discover the whereabouts of Captain Janeway and the rest of our crew members?" Tuvok asked.

Norro's face grew melancholy. "I'm sorry, but we haven't been able to get that information out of Captain Greeda or any of his crew. Needless to say, he's being less than cooperative. However, we can give you the coordinates of his last known whereabouts. He was sent to investigate several planets in a nearby system as possibilities for Duar colonies."

"Very well," said Tuvok. "Please transmit the information. We will be leaving orbit as soon as we receive it."

"I understand," said Norro compassionately. "Please inform us if we can do anything else for you, and if you are able to find your missing crew members, please do stop back by Duar Prime. We have a great debt to you, Mr. Tuvok, and we'd like to repay it if we can. I can't apologize enough on behalf of Mr. Greeda. He is a disgrace to the Duar people."

"Your apology is appreciated, but unnecessary," Tuvok replied. "Please transmit the coordinates. Tuvok out."

Norro's face disappeared from the view screen to reveal the swirling blue and purple haze of Duar Prime's atmosphere. A few minutes later, Ensign Baytart reported from the conn, "I've received the coordinates, sir."

"Set a course and engage."


	8. Chapter 8

After sending Senna and Gadril out to buy a few small parts, the Captain and B'Elanna had finished reconstructing the transmitter. Senna had a keen scientific mind and had been able to help a great deal with the reconstruction process. She was thrilled by the prospect of contact with alien species and was trying to persuade her brother to let her keep the transmitter after the members of _Voyager_'s crew left Kaylahn. Gadril wasn't so thrilled at this prospect, but he hadn't refused her yet either.

"All right," B'Elanna said from behind the console. "I'm ready to bring it online." Her ankle had fully healed thanks to Gadril's ministrations and she was back to her normal, fiery self.

"Do it," Janeway ordered from the other side of the console. B'Elanna connected a few wires and the old piece of equipment came to life. Janeway smiled. "Well done, Lieutenant."

"Now we just have to see if it works," said Tom.

Torres batted his arm. "It'll work."

It was early in the evening, and Senna was still out for the day. Gadril was downstairs finishing up with his patients. All the members of _Voyager_'s crew were tired of being stuck in Gadril's small apartment for hours on end. "Ok, here goes," the Captain said under her breath, keying a code into the controls. "This is Kathryn Janeway to the starship _Voyager_. Does anybody read me?" They heard only static.

"Let me try adjusting the frequency," said Torres, standing at the Captain's side and quickly working the controls. "Try again."

Janeway repeated her hail, but again, they heard no response. "Try adjusting the bandwidth," she suggested.

B'Elanna made the necessary adjustments. "Try that."

"This is Captain Kathryn Janeway to the starship _Voyager_. Do you read me?" There was another burst of static, but this time it sounded like someone was trying to respond. "Can you clean that up, B'Elanna?" the Captain asked.

"I'm trying." Torres worked furiously at the controls. She had grown familiar with the alien system after her many hours of working with the technology, but it still wasn't as familiar to her as _Voyager_.

The Captain repeated her hail again, and this time a voice was distinguishable through the static. "This is ... Tuvok. It is good to hear ... voice, Captain."

"B'Elanna, can you clean it up a little more?" Janeway asked.

"Yes, ma'am," the chief engineer replied. She worked the controls again and then nodded towards Janeway when she thought she had fixed the problem.

"Tuvok, it's good to hear your voice as well. What's your status?"

"We have regained control of the ship from the Duar, Captain," said Tuvok, his voice coming through the transmitter more clearly now. "We have set a course towards the last known location of Captain Greeda's activities. We were hoping to find you there. Are you injured?"

"No, I'm here with Commander Chakotay, Lieutenant Torres, Ensign Paris and Neelix. We're all fine. Can you get a fix on our location?"

"Negative, Captain. We are receiving your transmission but we are unable to track it."

"I was afraid of that," B'Elanna muttered.

"Lieutenant, we are in an underground city," Chakotay spoke up. "The city is heavily shielded. You may not be able to detect it from orbit."

"Are you able to get to the surface?" Tuvok asked.

"I think so," the Captain replied.

"The planet is an M class planet," said Chakotay, "but the environment on the surface is extremely inhospitable. It's a very cold climate. There are some creatures that live there, but no intelligent life."

"Captain, I hope that this planet is near the coordinates provided to us by the Duar," said Tuvok. "Otherwise, it could be a very long time before we find you."

"Contact us on this frequency once you've reached the coordinates that the Duar gave you," the Captain ordered. "Let us know if there's a planet like the one the Commander described, and we'll come to the surface."

"Understood, Captain. I am... relieved... to know that you are well."

Janeway smiled. "I am relieved to know that you are as well," she replied.

"_Voyager_ out."

With both hands resting on the console in front of her, Captain Janeway let out a long breath and let her head hang between her arms for a moment.

"Captain?" Chakotay asked, concern tinging his tone.

She raised her head and gave him a halfhearted smile. "I'm all right."

At that moment, Senna burst in the door, full of her usual enthusiasm. She saw them all crowded around the transmitter and asked excitedly, "Did you get it to work?"

"We did," the Captain replied. "Thank you for all your help."

"The only problem is, _Voyager_ can't get a lock on our position because we're buried under so much rock," said Tom.

Senna's excitement dissipated into thoughtfulness. "Hm."

"Could we bring the transmitter to the surface?" Neelix asked.

"I think that would be hard to do without being noticed," replied B'Elanna.

There was a knock at the door and everyone froze in silence. "May I come in?" Gadril asked. They all relaxed as Senna opened the door for him. She hugged her brother and kissed him on the cheek. At that moment, Kathryn caught Chakotay staring at them. For a moment, she thought perhaps he was staring at Senna, but then she realized that he was watching the interaction between brother and sister. She reached over and touched his hand, briefly. He met her eyes and she looked at him in compassion, letting him know that she had seen his faraway gaze. He closed his eyes and nodded, barely perceptibly, acknowledging what she had seen.

Senna excitedly filled Gadril in on the conversation, and Neelix, Tom and B'Elanna filled him in on the rest of the events of the day. "I'm relieved that you were able to contact your ship," Gadril said.

"So am I," the Captain replied.

"Not that we haven't enjoyed your hospitality, Gadril," said Tom, "but we'd need some permanent paint if we were going to stay here forever and pass as Kaylahn ourselves."

Gadril chuckled. "I doubt that would be necessary. I don't think that even my people are_ that_ xenophobic." He paused. "So now what?"

"Now we wait for _Voyager_ to arrive and hope that the coordinates the Duar gave them really do lead them here," said the Captain.

"Well, since it looks like you won't be our guests for much longer, how about some dinner?" Gadril offered. Everyone nodded and murmured their assent. Janeway looked around and knew that despite the circumstances of their meeting, they would miss Senna and Gadril. They had been true friends in a time of need, and that was a rare occurrence in their experiences in the Delta Quadrant.

"I'll help cook!" Neelix exclaimed, jumping up to follow Gadril into the kitchen. Tom, B'Elanna and Senna also followed, leaving Kathryn and Chakotay alone in the living room.

"Are you all right?" she asked him softly.

He was staring off in the direction of the kitchen and did not reply. Her hand on his chest brought him out of his reverie and forced him to look at her. "What?" he asked.

"Are you all right?"

"Oh. Oh, yes, I'm fine." He turned his head to glance in the direction of the kitchen again.

"Does seeing Senna and Gadril together remind you of your own sister?" Janeway asked.

This time, he heard her question and he turned to look in her eyes as he answered. "Yes and no. Senna is much smaller than Sekaya. She's a lot more innocent, too. But there is something about the way that they interact with each other that makes me think of my sister."

Kathryn nodded. "I know that you miss her."

"I didn't see her much after I joined the Maquis." Chakotay felt a lump forming in his throat. "If we ever get back to the Alpha Quadrant, I've already resolved to spend a lot more time with her."

She put both of her hands on his arms, bolstering him with more strength than she felt herself. "We _will_ get back, Chakotay. I promise you that."

He gave her a slight nod, acknowledging the promise, but she could see in his eyes that he knew that she couldn't make this sort of guarantee with absolute certainty. "Come on," he said. "It smells like dinner is almost ready." She let her hands drop from his arms and followed him into the kitchen.

Their dinner with Senna and Gadril was enjoyable, as always. Gadril regaled them with amusing stories about his patients and his practice, and Janeway discovered that he was quite the storyteller. Senna listened to her brother's stories patiently, but it was plain that she really wanted to hear more from her guests than from her brother. They had long since explained about the Caretaker and how _Voyager_ came to be stranded in the Delta Quadrant. Tonight's stories included the recounting of their encounter with a Romulan from the past through a wormhole, and several stories involving their adventures with Q. Neelix talked about Kes and his life before _Voyager_. Senna was a rapt audience; she hung on their every word.

As the Captain began to clear plates from the table, Senna followed her into the kitchen, leaving Neelix telling stories at the dining table. "Captain Janeway, may I ask you something?"

The Captain placed the dishes in the sink and turned around to face the small Kaylahn woman. "Of course, Senna. What is it?"

"Do you think I could come with you when you go back to _Voyager_?"

The Captain was taken aback, and it took her a moment to reply. "Senna, does your brother know you're asking me this?" she asked carefully.

The young woman's eyes fell to the floor. "I wanted to talk to you first."

"Why do you want to leave Kaylahn?"

Senna looked up at the ceiling and gestured to their surroundings. "I'm stuck here. All my life, I've dreamed of exploring other worlds; of contact with other species, but my own people won't allow it. They say it's for my own good, but really, they're just afraid that it would make their own lives more difficult. Going with you might be the only chance I'll ever have for a life outside a Kaylahn city."

Janeway regarded the younger woman thoughtfully. "I'll consider your request, Senna, but I want you to consider it, too. If you come with us, you'll never be able to come back here. You'll never see your brother or any of your family or friends again. When we do get back to the Alpha Quadrant, you'll be in an unfamiliar culture, and you'll be the only Kaylahn within thousands of lightyears."

This gave Senna pause, but she said, "I understand that, Captain. But if I don't go with you now, I'll never see anything but this planet for as long as I live."

"You don't know that. Your people were once a spacefaring people who communicated with other races. They could be that again. You could help them to become that again."

Senna looked up at the Captain with wide eyes. "Do you really think so, Captain Janeway?"

She smiled and put her hand on the younger woman's shoulder. "I do."

"I'll think about it," Senna said.

"Good. I'll consider your request, but before I give you an answer, I want you to talk to your brother as well."

"I will."

Janeway smiled again. "Good. Now, let's finish up these dishes."

...

Kathryn was roused from her sleep by the feeling of someone's hand on her shoulder and a familiar voice whispering her name. "Kathryn!"

Groggily, she opened her eyes. "What is it?" she whispered, finding her face only a few inches from the that of her first officer. He knelt beside the sofa where she had spent the past few nights.

"We're being hailed," he explained.

"_Voyager_?" she asked. Silently, he nodded. Trying not to wake anyone else, he quietly led her into the living room where he had been sleeping and where the transmitter sat. A light was flashing on the console and she hit a few commands. "Janeway here," she said softly.

"Captain," came Tuvok's voice. "We have reached the coordinates given to us by the Duar."

"And do you detect any planets that meet the description we gave you?"

"We do. There are two moons that meet the criteria Commander Chakotay mentioned earlier."

"All right," said the Captain. "We'll get to the surface as soon as we can. Remain in orbit until you detect our life signs or until you hear from us again. Our communicators should work once we reach the surface."

"Understood, Captain. Tuvok out."

Hands on her hips, her eyes questioning, Janeway regarded her first officer. "I think it might be easier for us to leave the city undetected if we leave tonight," Chakotay said.

Janeway pursed her lips. "Agreed." She paused, feeling his eyes on her. "Senna asked me if she could come with us."

Chakotay looked surprised. "She did?"

Kathryn nodded. "In the kitchen, just after dinner. I told her to consider carefully, and to talk to her brother. I don't know if she's had the time."

"Have you decided whether to grant her request?"

Janeway shook her head. "She and Gadril have been of great assistance to us. I wouldn't want to deny her the opportunity if it's what she really wants."

"But you're not sure that it is what she really wants in the long run," Chakotay finished for her.

"Exactly."

"Well," Chakotay said slowly, "let's cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, we have to get everybody up and ready to move." Janeway nodded her agreement. Chakotay went to wake Tom, B'Elanna and Neelix, and she awoke Senna and Gadril, explaining the situation to them.

"It will be easier for you to escape undetected at night," Gadril confirmed. "But it will be hard for you to find your way in the tunnels alone."

"I'll go with them," Senna offered. Janeway shot her a look, wondering if she'd made a decision. "Just as far as the lift," Senna amended quickly, averting her eyes. The Captain knew from this gesture that she had not yet imparted their conversation to her brother. She had thought they'd have a lot more time. Janeway had sympathy for the young woman, but she wasn't prepared to wait around for her to resolve her questions. Every additional hour that they remained, they risked exposure, and who knew what that would mean for them or for their gracious hosts.

"It's too dangerous," Gadril argued. "I'll go."

"No. You need to be here in case anyone comes to the house, or in case something happens," Senna said. Gadril took a breath, about to protest, but he realized that it was futile, and he closed his mouth, saying nothing.

A few minutes later, the members of _Voyager_'s crew were dressed in their uniforms for the first time in a days. Senna and Gadril had given them some extra clothing and blankets in case they were detained on the surface for any length of time. They also had a weapon to ward off attacks by tarpak... or by any Kaylahn who might want to stop them from leaving. They all hugged Gadril and thanked him for his hospitality

"I wish there was some way we could repay you," the Captain said.

Gadril shook his head. "I may not want to change the world like my sister," he said, glancing in Senna's direction, "but I do want to help those in need."

Kathryn smiled and shook his hand warmly. "Thank you." They all walked out the door, and Senna led the way out of the apartment.

They crept along the dark alley, past the rows of dark buildings. They didn't see a single person around. "Do you guys have a curfew here or something?" whispered Tom.

Senna shook her head. "This is a quiet neighborhood," she answered, in a tone that made it clear no other discussion was necessary. She led them through alleyways and back streets. She would investigate before they turned a corner, to make sure no one was lurking on the other side, ready to spot them and turn them in to the authorities. She couldn't take them on the most direct route to the tunnel, but she was trying to keep them on the least crowded path.

They had reached the end of an alleyway and Senna pointed. "There," she said softly to Captain Janeway. "There's the entrance to the tunnel."

At that moment, they heard a voice. "Hey! You there! Stop where you are!" A bright light shone in their direction, and a man in uniform was approaching their position.

Janeway squinted into the light, trying to see who was speaking, but Senna turned and said to her urgently, "You have to go _now_. I'll stall the inspector. Follow the tunnel straight back, and you'll get to the lift. You should be able to figure out how to operate it."

The Captain looked at the smaller woman. "If you want to come with us, Senna, now is your chance."

She shook her head. "If I don't distract the police, you'll never escape." She paused. "Besides, I think you were right, Captain. It's time for things to change around here, and the only person who knows how they should change is me."

Kathryn clasped Senna's hand. "Good luck. And thank you."

Senna nodded. "Run!" she exclaimed as the man holding the bright light drew closer.

The policeman thought he saw several figures run into the shadow, but by the time he reached the corner, there was only one Kaylahn woman standing there. "What are you doing out at this time of night, young lady?" he asked in the tone of a reprimand.

Senna had to think fast. She couldn't allow the policeman to become suspicious or to follow her friends. "My, uh, brother is a doctor, sir," she said, as meekly as she could, doing her best not to arouse suspicion. "He sent me out to get some supplies for him."

"At this time of night?"

She could tell the officer was not convinced, so she tried again. "He had an emergency patient and he didn't have the right bandages, so he sent me out to pick some up."

The officer narrowed his eyes. "Are you sure? I could have sworn I saw some people run into those tunnels just now."

Senna drew herself up to her full height; she still only came up to the officer's chest. "I didn't see anything like that, sir."

The policeman grabbed her arm. "Well then, why don't you come over to the tunnel with me and have a look," he said, his tone becoming more forceful.

There was nothing Senna could do as the policeman dragged her over towards the tunnel and shone his light into it. "Run!" Senna yelled into the tunnel, as loudly as she could. At this, the officer dropped her arm, called for backup, and began to run into the tunnel himself. Senna frantically tried to think of something she could do to help her friends.

...

"Run!" Senna's yell echoed along the rock walls of the tunnel. The Captain and the rest of the away team had already been moving quickly, but when they heard Senna's scream, they broke into a run, not knowing who or what was behind them, only knowing that they had to reach the lift before they were discovered.

It wasn't long before they heard voices behind them. Kathryn shared a concerned glance with Chakotay and began to run as fast as she could through the dark tunnel on the uneven ground. Tom, B'Elanna and Neelix were close behind. They weren't far from the lift now; they just needed to get inside and lock the doors.

"Ah!" B'Elanna stumbled and cried out.

"B'Elanna!" Tom exclaimed.

"I'm all right," she managed. "We have to keep moving." Paris looked at her with concern but knew she was right, and they continued on.

The voices behind them seemed to be coming closer. Finally, they reached the lift. They hurried inside and B'Elanna keyed the door shut. Just then, they heard a voice outside the lift, commanding, "Come out of there right now."

"Can you get it moving?" Janeway asked Torres, who was frantically working at the control panel.

"Just give me a minute, Captain."

"We don't have a minute, B'Elanna," Chakotay warned.

"If you don't come out of there right now, we're going to fire," the voice said.

"I'm almost there, Captain," said Torres. "Just a few more seconds."

Then, they heard a familiar voice outside of the lift. "Turn around. I'm here. I'm the one you want."

"No!" the Captain breathed. The voice belonged to Senna.

"Why you..." the first voice began to speak again, but before they could hear the rest of the sentence, the lift began to rocket towards the surface. It moved more smoothly than it had on their initial descent. After their experience with Kaylahn technology, B'Elanna was much more proficient at operating the lift than she had been the first time.

As soon as the lift began to move, Torres collapsed to the floor with a cry of pain. Tom was at her side in an instant. "B'Elanna, what's wrong?"

"It's my ankle again," she managed. "I think I must have re-injured it when I stumbled in the corridor."

Tom felt at her ankle and nodded. "You did." Then he did a double take. "You ran all that way with a broken ankle?"

She shrugged. "We had to keep moving or we might be dead by now."

"If Senna hadn't stepped in, we might be dead by now," Janeway said quietly.

"She was really something," Neelix mused.

"Hopefully helping us won't get her killed," the Captain said.

"Oh I doubt that, Captain," Neelix reassured her. "The Kaylahn may have some strange idiosyncrasies, but it doesn't seem like they're the type to go around killing their own people."

"I hope not," Janeway replied.

The lift jolted to a halt; they had reached the surface. Chakotay climbed out first, helping Janeway and Neelix by the hand. Tom lifted B'Elanna up to him and he helped her and then Tom. After only a few minutes, they were all standing back on the icy surface of the planet. B'Elanna was leaning on Tom for support. Neelix shivered as the wind chilled his bones. The Captain exchanged a glance with her first officer and tapped her comm badge.

...

"Ensign Kim, scan the surface," Tuvok ordered.

Kim did as he was told, but felt discouraged by the results. "I'm not reading any human life signs, sir."

"Perhaps they have not yet reached the planet's surface," said Tuvok.

"Or maybe they're on the other planet," Kim suggested.

"Possible," Tuvok acknowledged.

"Seven of Nine to the bridge," the former drone's voice came over the comm.

"Tuvok here."

"Sir, I have been scanning both moons extensively from astrometrics, and I would like to report that there are signs of a civilization on the other moon."

"Elaborate," Tuvok ordered.

"There are several structures that appear to have been built within the last few years," Seven explained. "Some of the metal alloys have a Duar signature."

Tuvok raised an eyebrow. "Thank you, Seven."

"You are welcome. Seven out."

"Ensign Baytart," Tuvok said, "set a course for the second moon, maximum impulse."

"Aye, sir."

A few moments later, Harry Kim said, "Sir, we're receiving a transmission. Audio only." Tuvok nodded to Harry, signaling for him to play the transmission.

"This is Captain Kathryn Janeway to the starship _Voyager_. Do you read me?" They heard the familiar voice of their captain, and the relief on Harry's face was visible.

"Tuvok here, Captain. We do read you."

"We're on the surface of the planet," she said. "Can you get a lock on us?"

"I've got a lock," reported Ensign Kim.

"Beam us up, Ensign. We're ready to come home."

...

_Voyager_ was prepared to resume its normal course for the Alpha Quadrant, but not without a little visit to Duar Prime on the way. Captain Janeway met with President Norro, who apologized profusely for the behavior of Captain Greeda and his crew. In order to make it up to her, the President had decided to throw a party in _Voyager_'s honor before they resumed their course.

The party took place in a grand ballroom at the Presidential Palace. The room was lavishly decorated, and a large chandelier hung from the center of the ceiling. One side of the room was lined with tables of delicacies, while on the other side of the room stood a bar furnished with exotic drinks from all over the quadrant. Functions like this had been a rare occurrence during their six years in the Delta Quadrant, and despite the harrowing events of the past few days, the crew seemed to be having fun.

The Doctor had fully healed B'Elanna's ankle once again, although he'd been impressed with Gadril's treatment considering what he called the Kaylahn's "primitive medical technology." B'Elanna and Tom were laughing with Harry, trying to convince him to ask one of the Duar females to dance. Harry was not taking the bait. Neelix was in full ambassadorial mode as he spoke to President Norro and members of his cabinet.

"Do you think he'll have managed to double our food supplies by the time we leave this party?" Chakotay asked the beautiful woman on his arm as they glanced in Neelix's direction. Kathryn Janeway laughed at the question. The simple, royal blue dress she was wearing brought out the color of her eyes, and Chakotay enjoyed the way they sparkled when she laughed.

"I certainly hope so," she replied, squeezing his arm. Chakotay's white shirt accented his darker skin tone and the black of his hair as he escorted the Captain through the party.

"How was your meeting with President Norro?" he asked.

"It went well," she replied. "It seems that our first impression of the Duar was the anomaly." She paused. "I did learn something interesting, though."

"What was that?"

"Remember how we speculated about the shelters we found on the Kaylahn planet? Where they had come from and who built them?"

"I do," Chakotay said with a nod.

"Well, it was the Duar. The Duar have been considering colonizing that world."

Chakotay took a deep breath, considering what the ramifications of such a move for the Kaylahn. "Did you tell President Norro about the Kaylahn?" he asked.

"I didn't. They obviously don't want anyone to know where they are, and it's certainly not our place to change that."

Chakotay nodded. "That's true, but what would happen to them if the Duar colonized their world?"

Janeway smiled conspiratorially. "I don't think that's going to happen."

He caught the shift in her tone and looked at her closely. "Why is that?" he asked, a smile beginning to form on his lips.

"Well, I told the Duar how inhospitable the environment was on that planet, and offered them some of our astrometric data to help them find a better planet to colonize."

Chakotay smiled fully now. "Nice work, Captain," he said. "It seems that we found a way to repay our Kaylahn hosts after all."

She gave him her conspiratorial smile and did not reply.

...

Captain Kathryn Janeway sat back into her chair, enjoying the feel of it. She surveyed her bridge with satisfaction, noting that everyone was alert, ready and at their post. "I was a little worried I was never going to see you again," she said softly, in the direction of her console.

Chakotay leaned over from his chair. "Talking to the ship again?" he asked.

She nodded, running her hands down the arms of the captain's chair. "It's good to be back."

Chakotay caressed his own chair for a moment, taking in his last view of Duar Prime on the view screen. "Agreed."

Captain Janeway turned her attention ahead, towards Tom, who was smiling, happy to be back in the pilot's seat. He turned around and flashed a smile at her right before she ordered, "Ensign Paris, resume course... for home."


End file.
